In a Fake Empire
by cast1el
Summary: What made Levi become the person he is? Why is the brave, yet undeniably short, hero of humanity so closed off, independent, rude and intimidating? Based on Levi Heichou before he become the saviour of humanity this is a story of how he came to join the scouting legion and what his life was like before he became one of the greatest soldiers anyone had ever seen.
1. Ace of Hearts

**Author's Note: **Okay so this chapter is basically to set up the story. _Based off of the anime series, _and the limited knowledge we know about Levi's family I've decided to create my own take on his life. I want to tell the story of why Levi became who he was, and what made him into that strong, unbreakable beast. I hope you like it!^^

**Chapter One: Ace of Hearts**

There was a large number of thieves within the confines of wall Maria, every wall held a selected number of fast, cunning and bright males and females capable of acquiring anything they were asked to steal. The underworld of mankind connected to the black market, a source of trade for the wicked, who delved in the battering of everything, from jewels and treasure, liberating such things from those that had more than others. There were some who sought to steal for personal gain, and even when they did they were forced to give a select amount to those high-up the chain. It was part of a deal, they offered you protection, in a sort of minimal way, hardly useful, but it was protection nonetheless and in a sticky situation even a little bit is better than nothing. Besides handing over a a few bits here and there was good insurance, it kept the higher-ups off a thieves back, it was almost a way of paying them for certain privileges and areas for hunting. It was like any normal place, the richer suburbs were more popular, give the higher-ups a few more dollars and they threatened others, keeping them away from your area.

Levi Heichou was the brightest, fastest and smartest thief out there. Of course that was his own personal opinion of himself, he was a boy that preferred to believe in his own skills and abilities rather than having others believe in him. It made it all easier, and that way he could trust himself to do the jobs he was given. This self-afflicted opinion was a rather obnoxious one, and yet whenever anyone else tried to compliment him he would shut them down, or tell them rather viciously to shut the hell up. But then manners had never been one of his strong points, his life as a thug imbedding itself within his language and actions. It was hardly a trivial manner to claim that he was less then he said he was, Levi, in fact never once spoke such words out loud; instead he kept the thoughts to himself, allowing others around him to circulate the rumours. He had a reputation, morphed form the hundreds, if not thousands of successful adventures he had participated in. It was a reputation he carried in his silent, almost bored way.

It was becoming a competition between Levi and his younger sister, Meelo, to outdo one another. The siblings had practically been raised as thieves there more often than not absent parents training them to compete and survive in the merciless world they lived in. Both of them, as expected, thrived in this lifestyle, Levi being just over a year older than his sister had been gifted with natural talent that so many people envied. Meelo, although lacking that same natural ability, was almost just as good, what she lacked in natural skill she made up with admirable determination and perseverance. By the time Levi was fifteen there wasn't much between them, although Levi was better than her in the way of moving and fighting, she held over him a greater skill to think things through, more often than not getting them out of some sticky situations.

The two preferred to work together rather than alone, Meelo was perhaps the only person capable of withstanding the continuous stream of snappy commands, stinging back-handed compliments and snarky, crude attitude of her brother. She was the only person able to reply in kind without meeting his fist on her face.

"Levi, mum and dad haven't been home for almost a month." Meelo poked her head into the lounge room, eyes round with barely suppressed worry. She was always worrying about something, and although it could be handy in a horrible situation it was annoying a lot more than it was helpful. But Levi never tried to snap at her, or tell her to calm down, just like she never criticised him for seemingly having oen emotion: boredom. Levi sighed heavily; one pale leg was draped over the couches arm, the rest of his body spread evenly between the floor and the cushions that lined the couch. Even with his short height he could reach from one end of the couch to the next, but then it had only been created to seat two people.

"I don't know, Meelo. They always disappear and reappear." He replied, voice patient, stretching out into a bored drawl.

"Yeah, but they are never gone this long," biting her lip she slipped further into the room to sit in front of her brother. Their parents disappeared all too frequently. It was hardly unsurprising that they had not received a single word of their parents whereabouts, or even if they were still alive. Their parents were pretty deep into the thieving business and sometimes after a dangerous job they had to disappear for a few days. Their parents hardly stuck to the conventional ways, and had, in fact, dealt with a number of corrupt garrison members, some of the deals they made on the black market had ended with bloodshed. And Levi was almost certain that he didn't even want to know about some of the things they had sold. He was sure that it would disgust him, not like most things didn't disgust him. But then, saying that, they had never been gone for longer than a week or two, but it had almost been a month.

Levi, compared to his sister, was almost completely unaffected by their continuous absence. He'd essentially raised himself, growing up. If his parents never returned he'd probably not even bat an eyelid. However, he hoped they'd return soon for his sister's sake, Levi couldn't fathom why she loved and cared for them so much, he had been more of a parent to his sister then they had. Just like he'd raised himself he had also basically raised her, a heavy weight on his shoulders. It was in all sense an odd thing, the impatient, short-tempered, independent boy shook off anyone who tried to help him. And yet he had been almost eager to help his sister as she had struggled during childhood.

"Look, Meelo, I've told you every day for two weeks now that I don't know when they will be coming home. They don't tell me that kind of stuff, they just disappear." Pushing himself upwards he turned and faced her, his feet sat in front of him, planted on the ground. He looked her in the eye, his dark ones meeting her round green ones. "They'll come home, okay? They always do." He said, trying his best to give her a comforting smile. Even the attempt seemed to calm Meelo down; she leaned back on her heels, her eyes shutting tightly for a brief moment. Levi's tensed shoulders relaxed as her breathing evened out. Her eyes flickered open and she once more leaned forwards, alarm racing across her face, before Levi could react she had grabbed one of his hands tightly in her own.

"But what-"

"They _will _come home." He cut her off, eyes hardening, tone taking on an annoyed edge. Meelo flinched and released his hand, Levi sighed, regretting the tone he had used, he was accustomed to speaking rashly and rudely to everyone he met, he rarely turned his sour, bitter moods onto his sister. Even when he slipped up and snapped at her she would ignore it, or she'd hit him back with a few harsh words of her own, and seeing her falter under his piercing gaze was enough to make him feel guilty. Racing a hand through his dark hair he grabbed her hand, forcing her to look at him.

"I know you're worried, but just remember that they know what they are doing." She nodded, once more biting her lip apprehensively; she looked as though she was going to argue, but bit back any forthcoming reply, instead nodding her head slightly. Unwilling to cause another fight Levi stood up, eyes glancing quickly around the room. Satisfied with its clean state he headed into the kitchen. On entering his eyes darkened, a scowl tugging its way onto his face. Dirty dishes littered the sink.

"Meelo! What have I told you, why are your-"

The sound of knocking cut him off, raising an eyebrow he turned momentarily away from the dirty sink. But he hesitated, as the sound of soft voices reached his ears, Meelo must have answered the door, shrugging he turned back to the sink. Rolling his sleeves up he tugged the plug into the sink, they had only a little bit of water left from the well, but enough to give the dishes a decent wash. At the sound of the door closing he waited patiently as his sister walked into the kitchen, her face lighting up with a broad grin. Frowningshe gave her a questioning look that was answered by a bigger grin.

"Who was that?" He asked.

"Oh, that was just someone," she replied. "They tipped me off about a special shipment that had just arrived." She stepped forwards, her excitement radiating off of her.

Levi gave her a cynical glance and waited for her to continue, when nothing was forthcoming he sighed, "alright, and what information did they give you?"

She almost squealed in delight, stepping forwards and closer to him. Levi dried his hands on a towel, before folding it and placing it back on the bench, before leaning against the kitchen table. "A new job, and one that will get us a lot." She exclaimed.

Levi frowned; unsure of how to respond to that, normally they didn't do any jobs whilst their parents were away. Besides, some random stranger he did not know had given them the tipoff. But the notion of money to be made had him intrigued, they were running low, and he didn't want Meelo stuck with nothing to eat in the coming days. Stealing food was a lot more risky then stealing things like jewels, it was trickier and the garrison tended to hover around shops when the food was all out, the numerous amount of homeless people bringing with it too many thievies. Levi held no doubt that he could do it, he could steal anything, but if there was something easier he'd rather take that, unwilling to risk being arrested and leaving his little sister all by herself.

"Alright, tell me more."


	2. The Great Game

**Author's Note:** Thank you to everyone who read my first chapter! I hope you did like it. Ahaha this chapter is going up really quickly because I'm kind of really excited and busting to get this moving. I'd appreciate it if people could give me some reviews, I don't mind if it is criticism, any tips of pointers that you want to give feel free to tell me. I hope you are all enjoying it, and I'm sorry this chapter has less talking, but I feel like there is more action!

**Chapter Two: The Great Game.**

It was dark. Night had fallen only half an hour ago and in that time the sun had set below the wall, sending the town into the peaceful slumber that came with darkness. Long shadows had drawn themselves across the land; the wall had sent the world into an early darkness. It was useful at times like this, when you needed to get going, when you needed that extra bit of time. It was also the best time for thieves to be out, using the shadows for protection, to aid them in their acts of thievery. Levi and Meelo were perched atop a roof that sat opposite of the building. The targeted building was newer than most, and from a simple glance Levi knew that the technology within it was more heightened then that around it. It meant a higher, more expensive form of security, perhaps an alarm or two, but nothing he wasn't capable of getting through. Two small windows sat at the front of the building, and he knew from scouting the place earlier that there was one more at the back of the small house.

It was larger than the two at the front, but had a set of bars across it. Impossible to get into if you wanted to remain silent. There was also the door at the front, it was alarmed for sure, and that would mean within minutes – or longer, seeing as the garrison was generally very slow to react to any situations, they had grown complacent in the hundred years of peace- a few soldiers could arrive, and that always made getting away from a situation unnoticed a lot more difficult than it should be. The windows were out of the question as well, so after a few minutes of mulling the situation over he had decided that the best way was the roof. Every house a chimney and it might be the dirtiest, hardest way, but it was the quickest and the only way bound to be security free. The idea of crawling down the grimy, filthy thing made Levi shudder in disgust. He'd need two or three baths to get over this.

He leaned forwards, hands instinctively gripping the edge of the roof as he looked doubtfully at the building before him. Night had allowed for all of his movements to be masked and so he took little care in what he did. The clothes he wore were dark, again there to only help him blend into his surroundings. Meelo were a similar attire, but whereas he was confident in his skills to remain unseen in the gloomy darkness she still took the precautions of stealth.

In the building before him was a prize that could get them a lot of money. It wasn't the kind of thing that most thieves dreamed of going for. It wasn't rich and luxurious in the way of instant, unexplainable cash. It gave way to almost a year's worth of money, it was salt. It was the one thing most precious in the walls. It was such a hard commodity to get that most people cherished the times they had it. Some people even saved up a few pennies a week to buy it. In with the amount of salt said to be in that shop they'd be set for a long time. There were so many traders out there willing to spend a bucket load on the prized commodity that they didn't even think twice about how it was collected. Besides it was quicker and easier to take then any jewel, and it raised less suspicion if you traded it in the black market then if you suddenly turned up with some poor women's golden charms.

"Run me through the plan once more." Meelo kept her voice low, the tone she used so soft that she had to basically place her lips against Levi's ear.

He hated it when she did that, more often than not he'd end up with some spit on his ear, scowling he pulled away. He understood completely why she had done it, they didn't want anyone to hear them and the smallest of noise could give them away, but still, it was gross. He wiped his ear down with his sleeve, vowing to wash his clothes as soon as he got home.

"We are going down the chimney, and then we are going to the room. We are grabbing the salt and climbing out and going home." Levi eyed her, his tone drawing each word out.

He was mocking her in that way, Meelo was smart enough to not bite back to his attitude, and instead she simply nodded her head, eyes trained on the building before him.

In truth this whole little expedition was going to be a lot harder than that. Levi would go in first, moving around to disable the alarms that would affect them. That was always a dangerous thing, any of them could go off at any moment, but at least that way if one of them did Meelo would get a head start. After that they'd both grab as much salt as they could manage, keeping in mind that they would in the worst case scenario have to run with them. Besides getting back up the chimney would be no small task, it was another reason why he was thankful that both himself and his sister were very small in structure as well as height, the chimney would not be a difficult fit for either of them. After that they'd make a runner, working back to their house by a long distinguished route, all before the sun came back up. It didn't sound particularly hard, but once it all started there was plenty of error for things to go wrong, especially considering the fact that Levi hadn't even been able to check inside the building before tonight.

Moving silently he stood up, with a flick of his hand he signalled for Meelo to stay put, he did not wait to see if she had, instead leaving her to trust his decisions. Sliding downwards he slipped off of the roof, his feet barely making more than the slightest of sounds as he hit the ground. Looking left and then right he tugged the cowl of his clock slightly higher, skin was easily visible in the pale light of the moon. Breathing lightly he slipped into the shadows, using the darkness they provided to mask all of his movements. He took a roundabout way to get to the building, crossing the short open space between where he had sat and where he wanted to be was the fastest way to get there, but it left him exposed, and even in a few short seconds that could be enough for anyone to raise the alarm. It took a few minutes but he finally reached the building. Raising a hand to his lips he let out a long, low whistle that could be easily mistaken for the cry of an owl.

His sister responded with a similar sound and he turned, before hoisting himself upwards and onto the roof. Once up and on top he waited by the chimney, crouched beside the tall pillar of stone. It would be a few minutes before his sister joined him, her movements following his own; she'd check and make sure no one had followed before coming and joining him. It was a good system, that way if anyone had seen or thought suspiciously she could spot them and warm him of impending trouble. It had saved their lives quite a few times. He didn't even start in surprise as the small figure of his sister popped over the edge, and stopped beside him.

"You're getting slow." Was all he said. She let out an annoyed huff of air, which was cut off as he raised his piercing eyes. They stared at each for a brief moment, and Meelo satisfied herself with the knowledge that she'd get him back later for that comment.

Without waiting he stepped forwards, lowering himself quickly into the chimney. He moved with the ease of experience, fingers gripping the bricks, before he let go, lowering himself a tad bit further down. Levi forced himself to not recoil at the dirt that quickly covered his fingers. He could feel it under his nails and he could smell it in his nose. It was absolutely disgusting, he bit back and growl, knowing that silence was his best defence. Landing lightly he crouched down at the entrance of the chimney, eyes quickly scanning left and right to make sure they were alone. No one died of being too careful. After he moved out of the way it took less than a minute for Meelo to appear once more beside him, this time he made no remark, knowing fully well she had done that faster and a lot better than he had. But then she was never one to worry about dirt, a streak of grim running from her left eye to her chin.

Rolling his eyes he moved off, hands sliding across the closest wall, using his senses to lead him through the darkness. They never used touches, relying on the few sense they had was much better. One he felt his hand run over the alarm system he halted, fingers fumbling in the darkness he touched the bad lightly, feeling for the way it worked. Frowning in concentration he gripped the two cords that connected it to the wall, he knew one of them disarmed it whilst the other would probably set it off. Weighing his odds let one go. He couldn't see which one was what and in all honesty if he could he wouldn't have known. Breathing deeply he pulled, there was an expectant few seconds where he was sure that a raging alarm would go off, but after almost a full minute of stunned silence nothing happened. With a short and sharp bark of bitter laughter he stepped backwards and away.

"Levi, shut up." The laugh abruptly ended and he turned to face the anxious face of his sister. "Come on, we have to get the salt and get out of here." She gripped his arm, tugging him not too gently towards the storage room.

"It'll all be in there, let's just grab what we can and get the hell out of here, okay?" Her tone had risen in pitch and Levi couldn't help, but grin at her.

"Dear sister, if I didn't know better you'd be very scared." He stated, eyes flashing teasingly, he was rewarded with a cold scowl and the flash of a pair of defiant brown eyes.

"I most certainly am not scared." She hissed, hands gripping the door handle too tightly before yanking it open. She turned away from him with a finale glare, eyes searching the storage and sacks of salt before them. The glare faded to be replaced by a small smile, "look at it all, so much here to make money from." She was almost giddy.

Levi stepped forwards before she could do something stupid. "As you said just moments ago let's grab some and get out." She nodded, her face returning to that normal business-like manner. They each grabbed two bags, heads turning wistfully to glance at the remaining two, Levi had no doubt he could carry them, but he didn't want to overload himself in case they were caught, besides getting back up the chimney was going to be a hard enough task.

"Come on, let's go." Meelo nodded, leading the way back to the chimney.

It was incredibly difficult getting back upwards, but they both had managed, as awkward as it had been. Levi was thoroughly annoyed; his clothes had been stained to the point where he wanted to just through them in the bin. His sister threw him a grin, before ducking downwards and sliding off of the roof and onto the street. She stepped out, and before Levi could stop her she walked onto the street. Cursing silently to himself he shrunk down lower into the shadows, his sister had frozen, he could see the shock on her face. She had made a stupid error, after a few seconds of painful silence there was no raised voice, her tensed shoulders dropped and she turned, ready to hurry back into the safety of the darkness. It was then that a loud, angry voice penetrated the peaceful silence.

"Oi, what the hell are you doing here?"

**Author's Note: **Please, leave a review? Let me know what you think, if you like it, if you think I should change anything etc. It will help make the story better ^^


	3. Hell

**Author's Note:** Hey everyone, thank you for reading! I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter ^^ This one is nice and long, so enjoy and maybe leave a review? :3

**Chapter Three: Hell.**

The voice is riddled with anger, but there was something underneath it, as though the anger was no more than a mask. There was something _knowing_ about it, as though the man had known that they were going to be there. But Levi would never have let that happen, he would have never let anyone follow him, let alone find out he was working a job. He was not an idiot. But that tone got to him, it bit into his flesh and clawed its way to the forefront of his mind. Angrily he shoved the notion away, no this was pure coincidences. But then, coincidences didn't exist. Levi knew that, he had been raised under that cold, hard, notion, it was just the same as miracles, they did not happen, it was only pure logic and skill that got you anywhere. Levi reacted before the man had even finished speaking. He was more than positive that it was a garrison member; the voice had power, as though this was not his first time catching people out. If he had his 3D maneuver gear it would take only moments for him to get back up.

Most people believed that thievery wasn't that bad, but in this day and age, when all evil was being expelled from the land stealing anything was enough for you to get a good bashing. But if you were caught by the wrong people you ended up a lot worse off. He had seen people get killed for getting caught, especially when it was by the higher-ups, if anyone let loose that you had stumbled over a mission or revealed your identity they came to give you fair warning that next time they would not be so kind. Then there was the garrison, the soldiers out to do justice. Most of them were corrupt and too lazy to do more then get drunk, but then there were others who liked what they did, there were those who were determined to catch others out and wrong and fix this broken world. But he had seen some, special squad dedicated to eradicating the last few evils within the walls, after all there was little more to do when you were a soldier, especially in times of peace like now. Besides, if you got to the right thieves you had a good chance of getting to the bosses, and the best way to underpin the entire underworld was to hit them where it hurt.

It had almost turned into a problem that was being dealt with more viciously and snappy than it ever had been. It seemed that now that the world was in such a complacent state they were trying to make it stay that way. And the few dangers that still lurked were being taken out, bit by bit. Was that why their parents hadn't been home for almost a month? Were they locked in a cell somewhere? He had no clue, and in all honesty the thoughts stayed in his mind for no more than a few seconds, before he was once more aware of his feet moving on the ground. Running he pushed into the street, feet gliding lightly on the ground. Without halting he let a bag slip from his fingers, flicking his wrist outwards it went flying into the darkened street to his left. The loud thump and shout of surprise was all he needed to know it had hit its mark. But then, he had never doubted it. He always knew when a throw was going to hit as soon as it left his fingers.

Grabbing his sister's wrist he yanked her forwards, before shoving her down the alleyway in front of him. His other hand still clung grimly to the other bag of salt. He was not going to lose the one good thing to come from all of this mess.

"Move it, now." He hissed, before shoving her once more. She seemed to jerk into motion, legs finally pulling themselves together. He nodded, satisfied as she began running, her long legs evenly moving over the ground.

This was not the first time they had been in this kind of situation. "Levi, we need to split up. Follow the plan." Meelo said. Her words were even, but her eyes flickered worriedly behind her, as though she expected someone to jump out and grab them at any moment. Levi didn't answer; he knew that it was protocol to split up. Staying together always ended in the worst of ways. He had seen it happen all too often, two people going different ways meant different paths to follow, and most of the time one or both would get away. But when you stayed together they had one target and a greater amount of the time they were caught.

"Levi-"

"Yes, I know. You go down that left alley at the intersection I'll go straight. Meet me back at the house." He spoke evenly, words carrying that signature drawl that so often accompanied everything he said.

"Whatever you do, Meelo, don't get caught. I do not want to have to come and haul your ass out." He said, a sly grin brushing his lips. Meelo managed a snort of derision before replying with a few short, sharp words, "huh, we'll see. I'll be the one doing the butt kicking." She tried a small laugh, but Levi could clearly hear the way her voice broke, she was scared. He couldn't blame her, though, but he wouldn't comfort her. Comfort was not something he handed out willingly.

"Move it." He called, before dashing forwards and into the darkness of the street ahead of him. Running was easy.

He could run for ages, it was the part that involved working his way back to the house without being noticed or followed that was the tricky part. Meelo had managed to keep both bags of salt and he still had one of his, which was good enough. He could go back. Couldn't he? He was capable of that. He knew he was, but if he didn't get home before Meelo and she did get him first she'd panic, and that wasn't something he wanted her doing. Grimacing he took another left, slipping into further into the town, eyes always flickering back and forth, making sure no long shadows came lunging at him. But then he didn't expect any to. It was night after all, and the sound of the 3D maneuver would be enough warning. It was amazing how much sound was amplified at night.

Gripping the bag tighter in his hand he ran, his mind travelling back to the lone figure of his sister, imagining her running through the streets alone, and hoping she was safe. He'd promised her he'd always keep her safe; he had made that promise when his parents had stopped keeping it.

...

Meelo Heichou was no coward.

She had faced a million different scenarios and scenes that not even some of the people within the walls could dream about. She was confident in her abilities, but whereas her brother trusted his skills more than himself she preferred to listen to her instinct and then use the skills she had acquired to survive. It was difficult running with both bags of salt, but she refused to let them go, knowing fully well that Levi's piercing gaze and scowl was enough to force herself to cling onto them. Besides, she could hardly return home empty handed, the two were short of money and although Levi had been trying his best to steal what he could and spread the remaining food they had it was getting dangerous. The other day she had noticed shopkeeper's pointing out the missing stock, the garrison had posted more people around. Levi couldn't afford to stretch out his hunting area; she knew that was because he couldn't leave her alone. And as much as that ticked her off she was grateful.

Maybe she wouldn't be so grateful when her stomach started growling.

Turning down another street she halted, her eyes widening with disbelief. A dead end sat right in front of her. Cursing to herself she spun around, eyes flickering left and right trying to figure out where she was. Meelo was positive she should have been on Main Street by now. She did a left, right and then another right-

"Dammit!" She spat.

She had missed the next turn in her haste, and instead had assumed she'd already done it. Now she was going to have to back track and lose what precious time she had. Scowling darkly she crept forwards, before peering around the corner to make sure no one was around. Taking a deep breath she stepped out, before taking off, feet once more settling into a comfortable lope. At first the whirring sound that slipped into the peace around her did nothing to stir her from her path, but after a few more moments she faltered, feet once more drawing themselves up until she had stopped. Tilting her head ever so slightly she looked around herself, eyes widening with confusion. She'd never heard that sound before.

"What the hell is that?" She muttered, scanning left and right, eyes squinting as she forced her eyes to focus on anything in the dark streets that might indicate what was behind the odd sound.

With a startled yelp she leapt backwards, the dark form slamming into her side. The bags of salt flew from her hands, landing somewhere she couldn't see. Gasping as she slammed into the ground, her head bounced off of the dirt and she groaned. The world spun and she took a deep, shaky breath, trying her best not to let out a pitiful cry. Ignoring the pain as best as her small body could she quickly scrambled to her feet, a hand tentatively poking the side of her head. She was rewarded with a stab of pain, and the familiar feel of a hot, sticky substance. The man that had crashed into her was already up on his feet, he didn't even look like he had fallen over, in fact he looked as though he had simply been standing there, watching everything that had just happened. Meelo looked him in the eye, they were hard and cold, a spark of unforgiving humour sat within their depths.

Meelo's stomach twisted and she stepped backwards as he stepped closer to her. That was when she noticed his uniform, the dull orange jacket of the garrison, and the obvious 3D maneuver wrapped around his legs. "Shit." She cursed.

"You are in a lot of trouble, kid. That-" He said, pointing to a bag to his right, "-is some pretty expensive shit. That is also an important item that was meant for the inner walls, for people who could only look upon you with contempt." He stepped closer, she stepped backwards, trying to keep the distance between them.

"Well, if it was so important why'd you let it get taken?" She snapped, eyes glinting with anger.

"Because expensive stuff like that brings out the best thieves." Shrugging he looked away from the scared girl. "I'm a little disappointed with what I've got, but you must be better at what you do then you look."

Meelo bristled, stepping forwards she turned to him eyes blazing with anger. "What? I'm not good enough because I'm a girl? Who were you expecting?"

The man looked at her evenly, eyes cold and emotionless. "I couldn't care less what gender you are. It is the fact that you couldn't even tell I was coming. Anyone with experience would know what the 3D maneuver sounds like. You just stood there like an idiot." He responded, unwilling to create an argument. "What's going to happen now is that I am going to arrest you and you are going to tell me where your friend went. He is the one I want. I saw what he did to those security systems. He knows what he is doing."

He pulled out a pair of handcuffs, and Meelo instinctively stepped backwards once more feet moving rapidly to get away, but the man was faster. As if predicting the girl's movements he lunged, a strong hand wrapping around her upper arm. His fingers dug into her skin and she screamed in more shock then pain. Clamping a hand over her mouth he cut her scream off, before tugging her harshly around. He clamped her hands into the shackles before kicking her legs out from underneath her. With a grunt she fell on the floor.

...

The scream lasted no more than a few seconds, but it was enough. Levi halted, shock rippling through his body. That scream had been Meelo's and it had been way closer than it should have been. Meelo should have been almost at the house by now. And, if that wasn't bad enough, she should not have been screaming. Spinning around he turned in the direction he had heard the cry come from. Regretting his decision to split up he moved off, feet moving soundlessly against the ground as he ran after his sister.

It wasn't long until he slowed down, edging his way closer to the area where he could hear voices. He picked his way carefully, unwilling to let anyone know where he was, or that he was there. If he was going to get his sister out of this mess his best move was to surprise the man. The scene before him when he caught sight of his sister had been one he had been expected. His sister sat on the ground, hands pulled tightly behind her back. The sight of blood, however, made his eyes flicker dangerously. A few streaks of crimson littered her face, but it didn't look bad enough to cause too much worry, after all she was awake. The soldier stood facing away from her, every now and then glancing in her direction as though to remind himself that she was still there.

Levi eyed him, stomach cold, hands tightening at his sides. Breathing deeply he forced as much of the emotions as he could back. Fighting was best done with a calm head, not one maddened by rage. Stepping lightly he edged down the street further, until he was almost at the opening. Keeping his eyes on the man he stepped into the opening. The man still faced away from Levi. Without hesitating he sprung forwards, his right fist flinging outwards. The impact with the man's face sent a sharp jolt of pain up his arm, enough to numb it, but he had been through this before.

"You really shouldn't have hit her. I'm pissed off now." He said, tone bordering on boredom. The man's eyes widened at the sudden shock of seeing the tiny boy, as well as the pain of the injury to his head. The shock only lasted a few moments before he was on the defence, aiming to subdue the young fighter in front of him.

"Whatever you say twinkle toes." The main smiled, eager to fight.

Levi moved like lightning, feet dancing on the ground with skill and agility that only came to those with natural talent. The other man, although a seasoned fighter did not have the stamina and speed that Levi had. Levi slipped under a punch meant for his face and side-stepped a kick, he replied in kind. Throwing a right hook quickly followed up by a jab with his elbow to the man's nose. He stayed in close, using his size and speed to his advantage.

It wasn't until he had the man on the ground that he stopped. Breathing heavily he stepped away from the groaning adult. His fists hurt and he was sure a few fingers were broken. Wiping his face he swiped the bit of blood from his lips. It was the only hit the man had managed to get in. It had been a rough one as well, splitting his lip and jerking his head so that he had staggered backwards. Turning away he moved to his sister who stared at him wide-eyed.

"Good job, twinkle toes, you sure have some moves." She breathed a bright grin on her face. Levi couldn't help but smile at her excitement, his relief at seeing her well enough to outdo his worry. Pulling her up to his feet he moved back, he need the keys. Levi walked back over to the groaning garrison soldier, his eyes hardening.

"Where are the keys for the lock?" He snapped.

"But why on earth would you need them?" Levi spun around, alarmed at the new voice. His eyes widened as another man stepped into the street. He wore the exact same clothes as the bleeding guy on the ground. The only thing far more confronting about his appearance was the small gun in his hands, pointed directly at his chest.

"Now, why don't you step away from the man you have assaulted before I shoot you."

**Author's Note:** So a gun, huh? I know a little weird, but I though if they have the rifles then they'd have something more similar to a pistol. Again, hope you all enjoyed ^^


	4. Drag Me Down

**Author's Note: **Thank you Hanna for your review, it honestly made my day! This is a bit of a short chapter, so hopefully I'll get the next one up quick. Hopefully you all enjoy, though 3

**Chapter Four: Drag Me Down**

The sound of a cocking gun is terrifying; there is no doubt about that. It was also a sound Levi had never expected to hear and that was a bad thing.

That meant he was taken by surprise and he froze unexpectedly with this new problem, limbs momentarily stunned by this new scenario. Consequently the man responded equally fast as he watched the young thief tense in shock. The man tilted the gun away and lashed outwards, a leg connecting heavily with the young boys own legs. He swept them out from underneath him, sending Levi falling to the ground before he could even react. It was quickly followed by a sharp, painful kick to his left leg. It struck deep into the muscle and he suppressed a groan. The man knelt down beside his face, "you shouldn't have hit him." His voice was low, calm and dangerous, he moved to stand up, but at the last moment he lashed outwards once more, but this time with his fist. His fist met Levi's left cheek, and Levi felt his lip split on impact. He shakily got to his feet; he spat, blood falling to the floor. Breathing heavily he narrowed his eyes.

The man kicked him again. He once more kicked Levi's legs out from underneath him. And he fell to the floor in an ungraceful heap.

Levi, fast as he was, couldn't seem to be able to get his arms up quick enough as the ground rushed to meet him. His left arm absorbed part of the fall, but his right landed awkwardly and he was rewarded with a sharp stab of pain as the wrist twisted. He grunted in pain, twisting his body so that he took the wait off of his right side. Looking upwards he placed on his coldest glare, before raising his browneyes to meet the man that had sent him so unceremoniously onto the hard, dirty ground, again. Because by god was this ground dirty.

The man didn't even flinch under his withering look; all he did, instead, was raise a single eyebrow as though he found the boys glare somewhat childish. His weapon, however, was still pointed at Levi. Levi, finding his most threatening look doing nothing (which was very rare) directed his gaze to the weapon being pointed at him, his lip tightening as he looked at it. There were not many of them around and those that had the privilege to carry them were those with the rank. This meant that the man in front of him must be some high ranking official within the garrison. He had power and Levi had made that assumption after a single glance. It was especially noticeable by the way he looked down upon Levi with contempt. Just as the world might have it this was also very unfortunate for the young thief. He was not going to get out of this one like he had so many times before.

The weapon he held was smaller than the rifles most of the soldiers were capable of using. They had a smaller barrel, and well, everything about them was smaller, except for the fact that it still had the potential to kill him or seriously ruin his body. So Levi remained silent, pressing his lips tightly together so as to not let loose a snarky reply that could end badly. The garrison soldier he had beaten up groaned as he got to his feet. When he turned to look at Levi the anger burning within his eyes was enough to make Levi smirk, he raised a challenging eyebrow at the man, almost begging him to take a swung and see what would come of it. The soldier's lips twisted into a snarl and he stepped forwards, Levi prepared to wriggle out of the way, but the soldier to his left subtly shifted the weapon so that the nozzle was in view of his face. Levi flinched at the movement, and cursed himself silently for being so stupid; the man wasn't going to shoot him, was he? If he was wouldn't he of already done it?

If he wasn't so uncertain of the man's intentions Levi would have moved, but with the uncertainty hanging over him like a dark storm cloud he didn't budge and instead faced the furious soldier. Bringing his leg upwards the soldier thrusted forwards, shoving his boot into Levi's stomach. He pulled back and did this twice more, each kick hitting Levi in the stomach. The young boy bent over, each hit sucking the air from his lungs, sending sharp, rapid spikes of pain through his entire body. By the time the third kick had been delivered he was on his hands and knees, gasping for air that would not go into his lungs. Each breath caused another rush of agony, but he fought through it like he always had, his lips parting and closing as he willed the air to go back into his winded lungs. Vaguely he heard the sound of voices. Stars danced across his vision, his legs shook, his arms shook and he wasn't sure he'd be able to stand.

Levi had been in far worse situations, but he would never get use to pain, it was uncomfortable, annoying and had a knack for staying and never fading. It was like dirt, filthy, unhygienic and a nuisance. And just like dirt he despised it, but he could also do nothing to prevent it. He wondered briefly why the man wasn't still kicking him; after all he had dished out a lot worse than what he had been given. He knew that the soldier would have a broken nose, a few cracked ribs, a split lip and numerous amounts of cuts, gashes and bruises all over his body. That was a lot more than what he had received. After a few more moments of painful gulping and gasping the air finally entered his lungs and he turned a spinning head upwards to see the soldier that had kicked him moving to stand beside his sister. Levi looked away from him, his stomach twisting as he saw the look on his sister's face. She looked mortified, a hand clasped over her lips as though what she had just seen had been a nightmare.

Levi couldn't blame her, being beaten up felt pretty much like that.

"You and your friend are in a lot of trouble, boy." A cold voice spoke and Levi's head snapped to his left to find the figure of the man with the gun.

He no longer held the gun out and instead stood with his arms crossed over his chest, looking down upon Levi with something close to superiority. Levi resisted the urge to groan as he slipped off of his hands and knees and into a sitting position. He wasn't sure his legs would hold him up if he tried to stand.

"She is my sister." He replied, allowing his tone to become something close to bored.

He loved it; it annoyed people, and besides it took so little effort to pretend to be bored then to pretend to care. His eyes flickered towards her, before returning back to the man, "and my name is Levi, not 'boy'" Levi stated. He could put up with condescending people, but he would not put up with people treating him like a child. He was not a child, he might be only a teenager, but he was more capable, strong and reliable than any of these soldiers. Yeah he might be a petty little thief but at least he had the skill to provide not only for himself, but for his sister as well. That kind of dedication meant he had earned the right to be called an adult; he had been forced to grow up faster than he should have.

Something in the man's eyes made Levi wish he hadn't spoken, and there were only a few rare people that had the ability to instil even the slightest amount of fear within the boy. It was the way they almost lit up when he had spoken his name.

"Levi is it? Most curious name." He murmured, eyes travelling over Levi. Levi eyed him, eyes burning angrily.

"Well if we are all done here I'd better be off. I have things to do." Levi raised a questioning eyebrow.

He knew it was a futile attempt, more of a way to mock the two soldiers, but he still struggled to his feet, eyes searching for the bags of salt that they had lost. Seeing one not too far away from the soldier in front of him he took a shaky step forwards, but halted when the man begun speaking again.

"I'm not sure if you had noticed, but you and your sister are in some serious trouble. Not only did you break into a secured building, but you disabled the alarms and stole one of the rarest, most essential commodities that we have. And to top it all off you beat up another soldier, now that, Levi, is enough to get you in jail for a very long time." He spoke quietly, eyes remaining on Levi the whole time.

The coldness that had once been so evident seemed to fade a touch, his words almost amused. It left Levi in stunned silence as he tried to figure this guy out, he was different, annoying, stuck up and intimidating, but he spoke as though he knew Levi, and as though he was hiding something. And Levi supposed he was, after all he had no need to tell Levi a single thing, all he had to do was arrest him and put him in a jail cell. Levi looked at him, right at him, his own eyes searching the other man's eyes, he wasn't certain of what he saw there and it made him uneasy to know that there was something there, something there that Levi wanted to find and know.

Turning around the soldier walks over to the bag of salt, he picks it up, undoing the top slightly before tying it back up tightly. Levi watched, his chest still aching painfully, his body protesting with each second of standing.

"You don't think I know that? I mean, come on man, you don't think I don't _think _about what I'm doing before I do it." He snorted, rolling his eyes, but keeping his tone to a drawl.

To his disgust the soldier standing by his sister snickered a few inaudible words were spoken under his breathe, but Levi caught the jist of them, something about him being a stupid, ignorant child. _Dickhead_, was what he said. Levi turned, this guy was really ticking him off, but the boy was determined to not let him have the satisfaction of starting another fight, not with the guy with the gun around, Levi would just end up being beaten up again. Besides Levi was trying his best to do what he did best, remain emotionless and unaffected by everything around him. It was getting hard to keep it around that dick, but he was determined to remain in a state of boredom and nonchalance.

"You think you are so tough don't you?" The man lost all humour, his voice growing cold once more, "I guess we'll see just how strong you are after a few days in a cell." He snapped, before stepping closer to Levi. Reaching behind himself he pulled out a pair of shackles. Levi physically cringed away from the sight of them. It wasn't that he hated them, even though he did, but the thing he despised the most about them was the damage it would do to his pride. His pride could not bare to suffer it. Sighing heavily he ran a hand through his hair.

Levi looked to his left, and found his sister being dragged to her feet. The solider yanked her up roughly and she yet out a yelp of pain as her arms were pulled painfully. Levi scowled darkly, "hey, you jerk-" he snapped, he didn't get to steps closer before he was grabbed from behind and spun around. The other soldier grabbed him and shoved him up against the nearest wall. His face smacked painfully against the concrete, the soldier pressed hard and yanked Levi's arms behind his back before shackling them. Levi grunted. "You're under arrest. Now let's get you to a nice warm cell." Levi would have given anything to spin around and wipe the smile off of that man's face with his own fist.

Instead he bit his lip and allowed himself to be shoved forwards and down the nearest street and towards the garrison head quarters.


	5. Hidden Agenda

**Author's Note: **Thank you so much for reading and I'd like to give a special thanks to Mel, Hearttoheart25 and Jean for you awesome reviews. I seriously appreciated what you guys said and honestly it made my day. So thank you! This chapter is nice and long, I hope you all like it, I sure had plenty of fun writing it! Maybe drop by and spill a few words for a review? I hope you all enjoy ^^

**Chapter Five: Hidden Agenda.**

It was horrendous. It was repulsive, revolting, and disgusting.

Levi physically cringed away from the walls. Dirty, muddy, grimy and covered completely in repellent brown bricks the cell was the very reason why he despised dirt so much. He hated it, being in this cell, he had attempted to sit on the tiny bed attached to the wall, but after a single glance he had stumbled backwards. Stain, upon stain upon stain covered it, the smell that wafter from it hinted that it had never seen a clean in its entire life. The blanket that lay limply atop the tiny bed was so dark that Levi wondered if it was actually black. He doubted so, knowing the cells generally held a light brown clothe. That did nothing to ease his twisting stomach. The stench of the room was enough to make him forsake breathing through his nose; instead he focused on taking short, shallow breaths through his thin lips. Letting minimal air in and forcing himself to not gag and cough it all back up, that would do him not good, at all. Instead he forced himself to not bang on the bars in front of him and ask tp be moved.

He'd have to suffer through this.

More so his sister was somewhere else. After they had deposited him in this dirt-ridden place they had slammed the bars shut. The garrison soldier that had cuffed him had sneered, having seen the way Levi had cringed at the state of the room. He'd been left hands cuffed behind his back, staring vehemently around the room his so despised. They'd dragged his sister away, he'd almost protested, but had withheld any comment, knowing that that would only given them pleasure, knowing that they had affected him. He regretted it, though, he wished his sister was in this cell with him, that way he could watch her, check her for any injuries and calm her down. Where ever she was now she was most likely alone, cold and scared. He had no doubt that she was capable of handling herself, but Levi had always taken it up upon himself to care for her. And not being able to see her, and know that she was for certain alright was killing him more than the filth in his cell.

Sighing heavily he look once more at the cell bars. After the soldiers had left him he'd checked each bar individually looking for weakness in any way. To his annoyance he had found each and every bar in place, and firmly stuck. After that he had attempted to get to the lock with his hands behind his back, but thanks to his undeniably small structure his fingers had barely more than grazed the pad. After deciding whole heartedly that his escape would be some time in the running he had moved back to the centre of the room, staying as far away from the walls as he could. Levi had almost sat down, but had remember that the floor was vile, so he had remained on his two feet, and with every few seconds he'd look left and right, as though fearing the dirt would creep up on him. The baths he'd be having after this little adventure. Levi would be forcing Meelo to take several before she even got into the house. He kept that place clean and tidy and neither of them would be tromping through it after this.

They just had to get out first.

This was not the worst situation he had ever been in. Shouldn't be _too_ difficult.

There was no doubt in his mind that they were in some serious trouble. He had, after all, disabled a state of the art alarm system – one he had not even meant to disable, hell, he'd been expecting the bloody thing to go off at full throttle – he had stolen one of the most precious commodities within the walls and to top it all off he had assaulted another garrison member. Besides his mind was still swirling, the solider that had arrested him had looked at him with _too_ much recognition, it was as if he had known Levi. And then there had been the incident in the street with Meelo, that same solider had acted as if he had known they were going to be there. That annoyed him; it prickled at his skin like an itch he could not scratch. Scowling darkly he turned his attention to the bars, and the open corridor, he'd been tempted a number of times to call out Meelo's name, just to know where she was, just to know that she wasn't in some room, alone with those two garrison soldiers. But he'd defied the urge, instead biting his lip, biding his time.

He as desperate to ask her about the man that had given her the information about the salt. Instinct, and well, all common sense, knew that that man was behind this, and if he was Levi was dying to plant his fist on his face.

Light foot falls caught his attention and instantly he was alert. His shoulders tensed up and his eyes knitted themselves into a stern scowl. The footsteps grew closer and Levi didn't need to be a genius to know that they were coming for him. Of course they would be, he had to be taken into the next room, they'd tell him his charges and then they'd remind him how much trouble he was in. Then he'd either have a small trial tomorrow or sometime this week. It would be nothing to big, but not small either, seeing as one of his charges was against a garrison soldier. He did not, however, know what kind of punishment he would receive, he had never done more than steal, and the punishment for that was harsh, but not bad. But he'd taken it to a whole new level, and there was going to be some pretty bad consequences.

That worried him. Because of what he had done Meelo was probably going to end up alone whilst he faced his punishment. Levi Heichou didn't want that to happen, and part of him knew that maybe he'd have to plead to stay with her. And yet part of him knew that his pride could not and would not handle that. Just as it was struggling to take in this humiliating scenario right now.

Two men came into view, and Levi watched them, eyes following each of their movements. One of them had a beard that covered three quarters of his face. His eyes were dark, but there was something about them that made him look as though he wasn't very intimidating, maybe it was the pot belly, or the way his ears seemed to stick out on each side of his head. The other guy – wait no it was a _girl _looked hardly like one. She had shot cropped; she had a stern face and a very masculine set to her jaws. Her eyes glittered with frost, and her body was broad and well-muscled. Both of them, as expected, towered above Levi. When they opened the doors Levi tossed around the idea of running, but immediately banished the thoughts as something caught his attention. Both of the soldiers carried the insignia of the scouting legion. Neither of them had the garrison insignia. As they stepped in and grabbed Levi he let them, his surprise muddling his natural instincts to yank his arms away and walk without them holding him.

That had surprised him, and it was very hard to surprise Levi Heichou.

...

Meelo Heichou was very annoyed.

The two soldiers had treated her roughly, dragging her to her cell. At first, whilst Levi had been with them they'd been slightly gentler. She had smirked at the realisation, knowing that some part of them, hidden beneath those tough masks, was scared of her short, older brother. She'd bit back a laugh when she realised that and instead had satisfied herself with a demeaning smile. They ignored the looks she threw them and instead tightened their grip on her arms as they dumped Levi in his cell. Her smile flickered and faded as she had comprehended that the two would not be put together, and instead would be placed in separate cells. That was when the rough treatment had begun; as soon as the doors to Levi's cell had closed they had gripped her tighter, making her stumble with each step as she struggled to keep up with their longer strides. But every time her movements faltered they'd painfully drag her along with them, uncaring of the pain discomfort they caused.

"Guys I am not a ragdoll, you know?" She muttered.

That comment was rewarded with a sharp yank of her left arm, because of the cuffs her wrists were pulled tightly against the metal. She let out a surprised yelp, which quickly turned to pain as she felt the trails of blood slip down her hands. They'd cut her! Scowling darkly she kept moving, her mouth now tightly help shut. They'd pay for that, she was small, maybe, but she was sure as hell not going to let anyone treat her like that. Her chance came when they finally reached her cell, they opened the door and shoved her in, but as she stepped forwards she allowed her left leg to slip outwards, angled towards the solider her brother had so kindly bashed up. A gasp of shock and pain escape the man's lips as she snagged him with her well-aimed kick in his jewels. His gasp quickly turned to anger and his eyes flashed dangerously and she turned to face him, standing in the centre of her cell.

"Oops, my foot slipped." Meelo kept her tone low, allowing it to hint at boredom, on the inside she was beaming, that would have been something Levi would have praised her for. She could just picture Levi trying to hold back a snort of laughter.

After a few more seconds of pain he finally gathered himself enough to straighten up, but before he could step into her cell the other solider sighed heavily. "No." He said, before sliding the bars closed and clicking the lock into place.

"But you saw what that little bitch did to me?" By now the other man was facing away from her, eyes burning with barely disguised venom as he spat at the man.

"Yes, I did see. I was, after all, standing right beside you as this event occurred. But I really think you have been bashed up enough for one night, wouldn't want you to be beaten up by another person, now would we?" The man sneered, a hint of warning in his tone.

With a flushed red face the soldier she had kicked turned away from him. His face was bright with rage and his eyes danced crazily. "You'll pay for that you little slut." He spat.

Meelo simply stared at him before yawning, "I'm sure I will." She replied, clearly bored with his empty threat.

The two soldiers walked away, and she was suddenly all alone with no one near her. The cell was dirty, and she hid a smile imagining Levi suffering with the filth around him. Unlike him she had no qualms with a bit of dirt. In Meelo's opinion it kept you healthy. The cuffs dug painfully into her fresh wounds, but she tried her best to ignore it. Fresh blood slipped down her hands, and it was an uncomfortable feeling. Sighing she moved to the tiny bed, before sitting down gingerly on the edge. Even though she was so clean freak like her brother she could still clearly see the horrid state that the bed was in. And she was not quite ready to indulge herself in a bed of germs, mud and dirt.

Meelo, just like Levi, had already drawn the conclusion that her friend that had given her the information had also ratted them out. She hated herself for being so stupid and trusting someone. But the person had come with recommendation from a thief she had known, so she had trusted their judgement and look where it had gotten her. She was feeling low and very much like this was her fault entirely, she was worried, and her hands wrung against each other rhythmically as she played this situation over and over in her mind. Meelo knew that Levi was going to be in a lot more trouble than her, and she was scared for him. She didn't want to have to live without him, he was her family. Biting her lip she bit back the tears that threatened to overspill.

This was all her fault.

She knew Levi would never say that to her. He'd say she'd just made a mistake, but she wasn't a stupid, ignorant child. Anything that happened to them would be on her head. She was responsible for this. Maybe if she too k the blame she could lessen Levi's punishment. The idea had her thoughtful, if she did that maybe she could take out Levi's part in the thievery and then he'd just be stuck with, well, assaulting a soldier.

Groaning she closed her eyes. She stayed that way, and even when her cell door opened she kept her eyes closed, breathing even.

"Come on, girl, get up." The voice was soft. It wasn't cold, harsh or angry. It was male and oddly familiar. She knew that voice-

"You." She spat eyes flickering open, burning with anger.

**Author's Note:** awh yeahhhhh ahahahha :D I'mma get the next one up early then normal because I'm really excited, so i hope you all enjoyed :3


	6. Lie to Me

**Author's Note:** Thank you to Hearttoheart25 and Mel for your awesome reviews! I hope you all enjoy the chapter and I hope you like the mystery man :D

**Chapter Six: Lie to Me.**

The man only looked at her evenly, he was in his early thirties, wrinkles lined the corners of his eyes and the edges of his lips, hinting at a man that liked to laugh and smile. The soft light in his eyes hardened and his tone become somewhat more brittle as Meelo stayed put.

"Get up." He repeated.

Meelo didn't budge. She knew this man… She scoured her brain searching for the name she knew belonged to the face. Linden? Yes his name was Linden. He frowned, his expression trying to remain patient, but it was growing in annoyance quickly. She eyed him barely able to suppress her own rage. The guy in front of her had been the man that had appeared on her doorsteps that afternoon; he had stood in front of her hands wrapped around a letter that had come from Luca – a trusted friend and an excellent thief. The letter had advised her to trust Linden, because Luca trusted him and had given the letter to deliver to them, it had been sing and everything and Meelo had known that handwriting, so she had used her blind faith to trust what was in front of her. A mistake she would never make again. She had known Luca, they had been friends.

Meelo and Levi being deep into underworld business knew a lot of thieves and sometimes they helped one another out, dishing off other jobs when they had their own hands full. So it hadn't been out of the ordinary to receive word that there was a free job, one that they were being advised to take by a good friend. Luca was a world class thief, she had seen him an action before, hell she had seen a lot of thieves and Levi and Meelo had helped some on a number of occasions. Normally they refused on the ground that Levi wasn't a team player, but sometimes they would help and so she knew Luca had been one of the best. And yet it didn't make sense because that meant that the letter had been a lie, hadn't it? _A trap._ The words grazed her mind and she blinked rapidly forcing them away. No, she would not believe that, not yet, not until she knew it all. Unlike Levi she was not quick to make judgements on others. There had to be a good reason behind it all.

For a moment she found herself blinking at him dumbfounded, her thoughts trying to wrap around it all, this new predicament had caught her completely off guard. Frowning at him she watched as he stepped closer before grabbing her arm and pulling her roughly to her feet. She let out a groan of pain as her injured wrists were split open once more, fresh blood leaking down her hands. Linden's hands instantly loosened around her arms as she groaned; drawing himself away from her he looked at her wrists, his lips curling in shock.

"How the hell did that happen?" He asked, before gently touching the wound, testing to see how bad it was. She did not know Linden, she had only spoken a few words to him when he had come to their door, but even then her first impression of him had been that he wasn't cruel. She was thankful, partially, to the fact that it was him standing there and not the dickhead she had kicked.

"Well it isn't that bad." He looked thoughtfully at her, "when we got to the room I'll bring some clean cloth, these cuffs could get them infected. They have all kinds of dirt on them." He raised an eyebrow as though expecting her to question what he had said. Shaking his head when he received no response his blue eyes flickered away from her.

Although still very pissed off she nodded, thankful. But then her mouth tightened with anger. "Why'd he do it?" She asked, allowing anger to bite at her tone.

A typical question, but it was something nagging at her, eating away at her. Why had Luca lied to her, why was Linden dressed like a soldier? Why was none of this making any sense to her? She didn't get it.

"He did it because he had to, okay? It wasn't like he had a choice. Keba was arrested a few months ago after one of his jobs went real bad. When I say bad I mean it, he was in some pretty big trouble as bad as what your brother is in." He said, looking at her briefly. Pushing her gently forwards he forced her to start walking out of the cell and down the long corridors. The seconds drew onwards in silence and Meelo resisted the urge to ask for more information. Instead she waited patiently for Linden to continue speaking. When he started again he sounded almost hesitant to continue.

"He was given a choice. He was sat in front of an officer and told that he either spent twenty or so years in a cold, dark cell or he signed up to become a soldier. It isn't the best deal, but it is by far better than staying in a cell. He accepted, but after he made the agreement one of the commanders brought in the next part. He had to give up names." Linden watched her carefully, as though expecting her to say something, but she remained silent, her only response was a clenched jaw.

She knew what must have happened after that. Luca obviously gave away their names. But that didn't make sense. She knew that her brother and herself were pretty big when it came to thievery. That wasn't even a point of superiority, it was a simple fact. The two had been around long enough to know that they were good at what they did. They didn't need people telling them that. They were big enough in the underworld, in her opinion, that the garrison would most likely know them by name, some the story just didn't add up.

Meelo eyes him, but only from the corner of her eyes. There was parts of his story that just begged to have questions asked, but she held back, part of her really didn't want to know why they had been betrayed by someone they had considered a friend.

"How'd you get involved?" She asked.

He shrugged before answering. "I'm a soldier, I have been for decades now, I get told to do something I do it. I'm part of a sector in the garrison that is working on bringing the underworld down, bit by bit." Meelo looked up, her eyes flickering with mild surprise at that. She doubted that they would be able to break the foundations that supported the underworld. It was like a tree that had its roots stretched out everywhere. Its trunk so thick you could just cut away at it. The only way to stop it was to burn it all to the ground, and she did not see the garrison as strong enough to do that.

He halted as they reach a tall metal door the same as all the rest of them. The only way to distinguish between the dozen they had already passed with the number scrawled just below the barred window. Before he opened the door he reached into his pocket a pulled out a key. Meelo turned her wrists in the shackles so that he could see them and Linden quickly undid them drawing the blood covered shackles away from her wrists. He opened the door and beckoned her to step inside. "I'll make sure you get something for your wrists, Meelo." He said softly. Meelo looked at him, her eyes glancing at him burning with curiosity. He was an odd man. Then with a sigh she turned away and stepped into the room, her brother turned to look at her, eyes burning with an anger she couldn't understand.

...

Levi understood everything now.

He'd been dumped in the room, handcuffs removed before being told to sit down. He'd done so, reluctantly at first, eyes looking the chair over wearily. But after seeing it basically dirt free he had sat, hands staying strictly on his lap. He rubbed at his wrists, the uncomfortable feeling of shackles know gone and so he kept his hands wrapped around his wrists, rubbing them as if to soothe them from their ordeal. The two soldiers that had accompanied him to the small room stayed by the door. Levi looked around himself, it was only a tiny room, and a desk sat in front of him a chair opposite him and a chair beside him. He assumed the chair beside him would be for Meelo, and he assumed the chair opposite him would be the person who'd be reading out charges and explain all the shit that was going to happen.

Whilst in his disgusting cell Levi had managed to piece together everything that had happened. He had formulated what he believed was a sound explanation for it all. It was obvious that his sister and he had been betrayed there was no doubt about that. Levi wasn't the greatest thinker, but it was clear enough to him that it would have been the informant that had greeted Meelo early that afternoon. Levi never trusted informants, but Meelo had been persistent, saying that they could trust him as he had come from Luca. He'd been indifferent to that, he knew Luca he had seen him work and Levi knew Luca was an excellent thief. He was just part of the notion that you don't trust a thief. But he had decided to trust Meelo. That, it turns out, had been a bad idea. Granted he didn't blame her not at all, it was all part of learning, just sometimes the mistakes you made could end up with you in a lot of trouble.

From there he'd come up with the theory that Luca had ended up in a situation that had gotten him to spill information. As to what, why and how he was unsure, but understanding the general parts of why he had been arrested and how was enough to ease his wondering mind. Enough, for now.

Just then the door opened, Levi glanced up, eyes widening only a fraction of an inch, but enough to level mild surprise as the new-comer entered the room. His face was covered in guilt and if Levi didn't know better there was shame glowing in those dark brown eyes. Levi remained passive, his eyes trained on the man for only a few moments before he forced himself to look away. Luca Hitch stood uncertainly; he looked anywhere, but at Levi. After a few more moments of awkward shuffling he stepped in before shuffling to the corner furthest away from Levi as possible. There he leaned against the wall, as though trying to bury himself in the concrete, so no one could see him. Levi slowly swivelled around in his chair, before looking at Luca, his face devoid of all emotion.

"I don't think you are ever going to want to see me again after this. You pig. Trust me when I say that." His tone was cold, his eyes moved lazily over the cowering man. Smirking slightly he turned back to face the wall in front of him. The other two soldiers simply glanced at one another slightly amused by the cowering man. Levi was pleased that even in his current position he was still capable of threats he was more than willing to carry out. What he had said was true. If and when he got out of this the first thing on his mind would be to pay a visit to Luca-

Levi abruptly spun around once more, his eyes finally _looking _at Luca. His lips tightened and his shoulders stiffened until he was glaring angrily at the man. The stupid boy had noticed before, too busy trying to act like the tough guy, but Luca was dressed in a soldier's uniform. _That was it. _The pieces to the puzzle he hadn't been able to solve.

"What'd they bribe you with? Hand out a few names, hand in some people and you wouldn't have to go to jail, just had to go join the corps?" Levi sneered; he clapped slowly, as though applauding him for his stupidity. "Oh, great job. How many people did you have to hand over? How many of them were your friends?" Levi kept his gaze locked on Luca, he looked as though he wanted to be anywhere, but there and Levi cherished the guilt that ate away at him.

He opened his mouth to make a nice threat along the lines of 'I'm going to kill you' but he stopped, eyes flickering away as the door opened once more to reveal his sister. The anger that burned in his eyes melted at her appearance. He moved to stand up, but as the two soldiers stepped forwards he halted, instead waiting for her to move in and sit down beside him. Instantly his hands grabbed her wrists. His eyes darkened as he took in the blood and the lacerated skin. "How did this happen?" He demanded, his fingers gently placing pressure on a cut that had started to bleed again.

Meelo attempted to tug her arms away, but Levi held on, his iron grip locking her in place. Sighing heavily she leaned back in her chair. "I was rude to that man you so kindly hit," she grinned slyly, "but don't worry, after he did this I gave him a remember me present right in his jewels." Levi's grin was brief, but enough to let her know that he was pleased, but still unhappy about the wounds. With a cluck of his tongue he let her hands go, but not before tearing a bit of his shirt and handing it to her to wrap it around them. Meelo grabbed it, her eyes flickering around the room, she jerked away from her chair and Levi reached forwards grabbing her arm before she could fall off.

Then she was suddenly very angry, her eyes, two smouldering orbs that burned with rage. Levi glanced briefly at Luca, but he was solely focused on the young girl that held him in a fierce look that seemed to scream her hurt, betrayal and anger. Levi was sure a few harsh words would have been exchanged had the door not opened once more to reveal the newest member. Levi's only show of surprise was a raised eyebrow, but Meelo gasped, her eyes widening, her jaw dropping ever so slightly as Commander Dot Pixis walks into the room.


	7. Devil's Claws

**Author's Note: **Thank you to everyone who is reading! I'm sorry last chapter was a bit slow. Next chapter is going to have a bit more action, yay! Enjoy ^^

**Chapter Seven: Devil's Claws.**

Levi's jaw tightened as he tried to keep his surprise hidden. It was crazy how many times he had been surprised in these past few hours. It was like a fun house in here with every corner opening up to a new and shocking discovery. It was a train ride that he wanted to get off of right now. Levi Heichou hated surprises. He preferred disappointment over surprises, surprises usually ended with a person fumbling over words trying their best to not say the wrong thing, disappointment was a lot more painful to endure, but you didn't make mistakes. Levi was not disappointed to see Commander Pixis. Leaning back in his chair he eyed the aging man. Signs of age had already begun to grace him, but there was a look to him that warned that he was anything, but old. His eyes held those characteristic wrinkles that often clung to those that smiled too much. They looked tired, however, but when he stepped into the room he did no frown, he did not scowl, he smiled. He looked at Meelo and Levi and gave them a polite smile before shifting over to his chair and dropping down with a weary sigh.

There was a moment of silence, where Levi simply stared. He was astonished to see the Commander here. It seemed as though Levi and Meelo were in a lot more trouble than he had anticipated, otherwise why would Pixis be sitting there? Surely he had a lot more better things to be doing then berating two teenagers that had broken the law? Apparently not, for he stayed where he was, his eyes looking over them, calculating, but the smile never leaving his face. Levi eyed him, suddenly unsure of himself. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair, all interest in Luca evaporating as a new problem was thrown right at him. It seemed he was never going to get a break from this misery.

"Hello Meelo and Levi, I'm pleased that you could join me." He smiled, and there was no hint of condensation or superiority in the way he spoke. It was like he had expected nothing less than their required presence, and yet was still pleasantly surprised that they had turned up.

Levi nodded, he liked this guy. There was something about him that made him stick out, that made Levi feel as though he was fair, and would not be insanely cruel. There was an honesty to those dark eyes, and a hint of compassion that Levi had believed long gone from this world. This man knew what he was doing and it was clear that he had no wish to make them suffer anything unnecessary. Levi did not trust him, though; trust was a rare commodity that seemed so far lost and gone that it was never going to return. Hell, the last person he had trusted had turned on him and look where that had gotten him. He was way too far past doing anything along those lines ever again. It had been taken from him, the only person he reserved that word for now was Meelo. She was the only person he needed to be able to trust, other than that he would rely on himself and his own skills, Justas he had his entire life.

Nodding ever so slightly the smile flickers and disappears, Pixis' eyes turn grave and he leans forward, pushing his elbows onto the table. "I know you've heard this from my other colleagues—" He waves a hand to indicate the soldier's, "—But they were not joking when they said you are in a lot of trouble. If you had of just been any normal thief you would have been let off with a week or so in a cell, but you aren't. What is more you," he said, his eyes looking intently at Levi, "attacked one of my mean. That kind of assault has landed you into some pretty deep trouble, more so than if you had of just left it."

Levi's eyes burned with anger, and he opened his mouth to cut in, but before he could say anything Pixis held up a hand, forcing him with the sharp gesture to withhold the harsh words he was about to spit out. "Don't get me wrong, I understand why you did it. Believe me, I do. But it doesn't change the face that you _did _do it." Pixis' eyes seemed to harden as they stared at Levi, almost as though they challenged him to say anything. Levi held his tongue, knowing that what the man had said was correct. Pixis, it seemed, was not an idiot, like most other soldier's.

So instead Levi settled for a question that had been nagging at him. "You said that if we were _petty _thieves we'd be in a cell and out. That suggests that you think we have done a lot more than what we did. He has—" he indicated Luca with a sweep of his hand, his eyes not leaving Pixis "—obviously said a lot to you about us. It seems that you all think we are pretty _important._" He smirked, unable to stop the stress he placed on the last word.

Pixis simply stared at him for a moment before responding. "You seem to think that we soldiers are ignorant of the doings of the Underworld. We aren't. We have ways to get information; we know who is at the top of the chain, who is at the bottom and who needs to be brought down. Luca here was one of them. We managed to get him on a hunch from another person. It is simple, he didn't go to jail and all he had to do was—"

"Yeah, I know what he had to do, why else would I be sitting here and not lying on my couch at home?" Levi replied, his tone hinting at his annoyance. Pixis smiled, his lips twisting upwards ever so slightly. He leaned back in his chair, his eyes studying the short, young boy in front of him.

"But why did he hand us in? Aren't there a dozen more important thieves you guys need to catch?" Meelo spoke up, her tone questioning, her voice a lot calmer and not as agitated as Levi's. Levi glanced at her, her eyes were sparkling with that light that meant she was on the brink of solving something, but she was just missing the last few pieces. And then all at once her eyes seemed to light up, flooding with understanding, Levi watched them widen ever so slightly, before she narrowed them, her accusing gaze turning onto the Commander.

Levi also looked at Pixis, he raised an eyebrow, his mind not as sharp and quick as Meelo's when it came to conundrum's like this.

"You asked him to, didn't you?" Meelo said, her voice low, but very accusing. "That was the deal? But why us, though, why did you ask for us specifically?"

Pixis looked at her, his eyes showing the smile his lips would not reveal. "Now come on, Meelo, how have you not got that part yet?" He replied, he watched her intently, but after a few more moments of silence he seemed to give up. He turned so that he could look at them both.

"Your sister is close. And almost had it. We did ask Luca to give us information on the both of you, specifically you, Levi. Whilst your sister is just as good as you, you seem to be a lot more troublesome, which was proven last night when you bashed up a trained officer with no trouble at all. Regardless, the real point on getting the two of you was the fact that believe it or not, but you are within the top five of the Higher Ups 'go to' list. Meaning you are in the top five for the best thieves, and more important ones in the Underworld."

He paused as though he expected some kind of response, but neither sibling moved, or spoke. He shrugged before continuing, "so it became imperative for us to catch you. Bring down the foundations and you break the entire structure. Luca here had enough information and knew you two well enough to arrange that little ambush."

There was a long, awkward silence where no one spoke. Commander Pixis seemed perfectly calm, and he also seemed to be waiting for one of them to speak. Levi eyed him, he kept his face expressionless, allowing the cool, calmness that he was so good at flood him. He'd known that Pixis was going to say what he had said. Hell he knew that Meelo and he were at the top of the Underworld, they were in fact ranked number three, their parents number two and the actually leader as number one. But it wasn't common knowledge and it wasn't something he generally spoke about to anyone. The only reason he was ranked where he was because of the number of jobs he had accomplished, and he had outsmarted a number of people that had once been ranked higher then himself, most of them had mysteriously disappeared just as Luca had.

Then suddenly he knew what Pixis wanted.

He stood up so abruptly that his chair flew back and fell onto the floor. Meelo jumped in surprise as did the guards, they stepped forwards, but Pixis held up a hand to stop them. Pixis stared at Levi, and those brown eyes meet his, they burned with an intensity that made Levi uncomfortable. And with an even voice he said, "I won't do it."

Pixis stared at him.

"You hardly have a choice. Give me what I need and you won't spend the rest of your life in a cell." He replied. Levi had expected that threat, and he stayed where he was, hands splayed across the table, he leaned closer to Pixis, his eyes burning.

"I might not love those idiots, but I won't give them up." He said. It was true, his parents were useless, but family was family.

Pixis sighed breaking the eye contact, "Levi you hardly have a choice. Did you not hear what I said? You will spend the rest of your life in a cell, but maybe you hadn't realised, but your sister is sitting right there as well." That cut into Levi like a knife and he stumbled backwards a step. Pixis had just snagged the one thing Levi could not let happen. He could not bare to imagine Meelo in a cell, on the dirty, cold hard ground for the rest of her life.

He scrambled for words, anything he could use to get his sister out of this situation and throw himself into it. That way he could deal with it, take it all and not worry about the consequences. But with his little sister in the mix that was not an option she was important, way more important than his family. The threat clung to him like a disease.

"No. No, I take full responsibility of everything that happened tonight. You leave her out of this. She has _nothing _to do with it." He spat, he stepped forwards once more, his hands clenched, and they were glued tightly to his side.

Pixis looked almost sad as he shook his head, standing up to tower above the angry boy. "Simple as this, Levi: Give me information about them. You join the army, serve your time and your sister lives her life out of a cell."

Levi was fuming.

"Hey! Oi, both of you stop. I am sitting right here. And Levi Heichou you will not be taking the blame. Hell I am the one to blame for this entire mess; I believed that dick cowering in the corner. I made the mistake of trusting him. And you –" she pointed at Commander Pixis, her eyes narrowing dangerously, "—don't you dare talk as though I can't handle myself, saying that this is his only choice. I am not a weak, breakable thing that can just be handed over to another person or used as a threat—"

Levi cut her off his lips forming the words he didn't want to say before he could stop himself, "yes. I'll do it. Just promise me she does not go to jail and she stays safe." He looked directly at Pixis, he couldn't look at her, he refused to look at his sister. He had to keep her safe, protect her, just as he had promised.

"What the hell are you doing, Levi?" She spat, she jumped forwards, her arms gripping his yanking him around to face her. "What the hell? Why did you just say that? You just said you give up our parents? What is wrong with you?" She was screaming at him now and it took all Levi's will power to not grab her and scream at her.

"I'm doing this for you, so you don't spend god know how long in jail. Our parents can deal with it." He replied, tone cold.

Meelo stared at him in shock for a moment and then she screamed in frustration, before jumping at Levi, her small hands pummelling him, hitting him anywhere she could.

"You idiot! You giant big ass! You promised me you'd take care of me." Then there were people grabbing her and pulling her off of Levi, she glared, tears filling her eyes.

"Levi, you'll be transported to the camp tomorrow; there I'll get that information from you." Commander Pixis spoke briskly, he tried not to look at the wailing girl, but just as he turned to leave Meelo clawed her way free and ran at him, grabbing his arm and forcing the Commander to look at her.

"I'm going as well. I'm joining the army with Levi."

**Author's Note: **I hope you all enjoyed and hopefully next chapter is up soon! Please stop by and leave a review, let me know what you think? c:


	8. Torn Apart

**Author's Note: **Hey everyone, I am super sorry about the wait. I was sooo busy on the weekend D: Anyways, I hope you all enjoy. One quick point of clarification. I did some research and Armin, Mikasa and Eren all joined the army when they were 12, as that was the minimum age limit. But in my story the minimum age as 15 and this is because from what I researched and learned it was most likely around 15 when Levi first joined, but changed when the titan's attacked to a lower age. I know some of you might not agree, but it is what I learned from my research so I am using thatttt. I hope you all enjoy this chapter 3

**Chapter Eight: Torn Apart.**

Amazingly the cell he now lay in was clean. So clean, in fact, he'd gathered the courage to lie down on the little bed provided. It was little even by Levi's size, his feet barely fitting on the edge. But it was surprisingly clean; therefore he was unwilling to complain about what he had been given. The blankets carried that familiar smell of soap, and the walls, although grimy beyond acceptance were slightly more presentable then that of his previous cell. He lay staring at the ceiling, which was just as filthy as the walls – how on Earth it ended up in such a state was beyond him, just like how they seemed incapable of keeping a few walls clean. Sighing heavily he closed his eyes briefly, darkness swam around the corners, but it would not grab him and drag him under. After a few minutes of silence he was forced to once more turn his attention back to the roof, his body and mind unwilling to shut down.

He did not want to be in this position. Pixis had accepted his sister's wishes without hesitating, as though the laws didn't even matter anymore. It was as though the fact that you had to be the minimum age of fifteen to join the training corps was not a problem at all. In the end as Levi had been dragged to his new cell he'd satisfied himself with the notion that Pixis had simply agreed to prevent any further argument. Surely he would not give in to her pleading? He had stood there, lips drawn tight, eyes blazing with fury he never showed as it all happened – honestly he was annoyed with himself for the amount of emotions he was showing, his normal ability to remain unfazed by everything around him was being tested to the very extreme. It seemed that he was failing to remain his usual composed self.

Pixis had simply detached himself from his sister before leaving the room, a simple nod of his head was all Meelo had needed. Meelo hadn't even said a single word to him, except to give him a triumphant smirk before they were dragged out of the room and pushed down the corridor going separate ways. He'd yelled at her before they had managed to grab him, but Meelo hadn't even flinched, for once finding his rarely shown anger to mean nothing. She was too pleased with what she had gotten away with.

He had never felt so much more distraught then in that moment.

With a sudden burst of rage he swung his left fist around and it smashed into the wall beside him. Grunting with the pain he shook his hand from side to side. He could already feel it starting to swell up, but he ignored the small stabs of pain that prickled his skin. It had felt good, in an odd way, it relaxed his body and for a moment his shoulders loosened and the frown that had embedded itself on his face disappeared. And that was enough, good enough for the pain that accompanied slamming his fist against a wall. Pressing himself hard against the bed he gripped his hand to his chest. He still didn't even know what to say to Pixis tomorrow morning. He was going to be stuck in a room fighting to say words that would out his parents. Now he felt hopeless, as though there was no longer any need to protect his parents. The guilt that had weighed on him as he had agreed to Pixis' wishes had vanished with his sister's words.

After everything he had done for her she had thrown herself into the danger that he had tried to protect her from all his life. Growling softly to himself at the mere thought of the injustice of it all he turned to his side, head hitting the pillow roughly. He curled his legs up tighter against his chest. And forced himself into a restless sleep.

...

Meelo Heichou didn't know what to think. Her mind was spinning and she was sure she was never going to get to sleep before tomorrow came. Her hands were wrapped tightly around her wrists; the soldiers had given her some clean bandages and a wet cloth to wipe the blood away. They'd been kinder this time; the two soldiers that had directed her to her cell had even tried to start up a conversation, which she had ignored. Not out of spite, or to be rude, but simply because her mind was swirling with everything that had happened. Levi had not been the only one to protest after Pixis accepted her request. The two soldiers in the room had stood up, mouths hanging open, openly disapproving of the commanders decisions. But he had been able to silence their complaints with a small glare before leaving the room, letting Levi know they would speak tomorrow after they arrived at the camp.

After that they'd he'd turned on her, his eyes vivid, his entire posture and body speaking of a type of rage she had never seen before. Yet when he had yelled at her she had felt calm, and far more composed then he had been. She was pleased, if she was being honest, she was going to be joining the military, she was going to be staying with Levi and not be stuck in some home – which she knew was going to happen, seeing as Levi had to out their parents. Where else was she going to go? His yelling had done little more than ruffle her, she'd almost been thankful when two more soldier's had appeared, grabbing him and pulling him out of the room. She loved Levi, but sometimes he didn't seem to understand that she was capable of protecting herself. She didn't need him to babysit her.

They'd waited a few minutes before leaving, Meelo unwilling to meet or even see Levi in the hallways. The cell she'd been deposited in was better than her last, much cleaner, and for that she was very grateful. At meant that the little sleep she could possibly get would be in a room that wasn't going to get her sick.

Night had fallen hours ago. Everything was silent. The last few soldiers' she had heard walking down the halls were long gone. The silence that seemed to build in the room was like a blanket, it suffocated anything else and soon she found herself keeping her breathing soft and shallow, her mind and body unwilling to disrupt the stillness that had enveloped the entire place. It was funny how the idea of speaking was one that made her stomach twist, as though even the thought of shattering this illusion of peace was a bad one. She had felt this numerous amounts of times on jobs with Levi where she had been in situations where she had scarcely breathed, holding her breathe for inordinate amounts of time as people walked by, or as she moved through a house, hoping that each step brought with it silence.

Astonishingly enough she was already starting to miss those _easy _times.

Smirking ever so slightly she turned her body so that she was lying on her side, it was hard not to miss it, it was easy to forget how difficult it really was. She was so used to it all that that kind of routine was going to be hard to shake off. Meelo was so very curious to know what tomorrow was going to be like. She was certain Levi would have a few more things to say that could possibly end with him attempting to convince Pixis to change his mind.

Biting her lip she closed her eyes. Her hands stayed wrapped around her wrists, and her stomach churned unpleasantly, but in the end she fell into a sleep filled with worry and apprehension.

...

It was very early in the morning when they came in. But instinct and training had Levi up and on his feet as the sound of feet pierced his dreamless sleep. He'd tossed and turned left and right, his body despising the uncomfortable situation it had been thrown into. By the time the soldier's had appeared at his door, keys jangling in the lock as they tugged the cell door open. It was the same two soldier's that had delivered him to his cell yesterday, both of whom had little to say, they were rough, but not as bad as others, but today they wore sombre expressions, the way they looked at Levi spoke of secrets he didn't know. He raised a single eyebrow, his eyes questioning. The one that stepped in pulled out a pair of handcuffs and Levi obediently stretched out his arms, the soldier nodded his head, thankful and quickly slipped them on, a small grunt of amusement slipped past his lips as he noticed Levi's bruised knuckles, specks of blood covering his skin.

"The wall had a problem with me." Levi said his tone light.

The man snorted a small laugh pressing into the tension, pushing it away. Levi smiled slightly. As the man stepped forwards he indicated that Levi leave, they headed out of the cell, both soldier's flanking him, but keeping their distance, every now and then indicating when to turn and when to stop as they stepped forwards to open a door.

"Quite a lot of us have been in a similar situation. You'd be surprised at how many of the best soldiers were people like you." Levi looked back, the man that had laughed before at his comment spoke, tone brisk and all business like, but polite.

"Maybe it is because I have a select set of skills, and I have the experience on the streets. I know how to survive, just like a lot of people in my situation do." He paused, the last door was opened and he stepped through and outside. The soldier he was speaking to nodded, his lips pursed thoughtfully.

"Fair enough." Was his only response, before stepping back to let Levi outside. The sun had barely risen and long shadows reached across the ground, the world sat in darkness still.

A carriage sat a few meters away, two horses sat out the front. There was a simple window on the side with two bars. Levi had seen plenty of them in his lifetime crawling through the city, occupied and vacant. He had never believed he'd ever be stuck in one. Doing his best to keep some dignity he stepped forwards, steps brisk. He halted when he reached it, another soldier stood by the door – the driver – he opened the door at Levi's approach and Levi stepped inside. The two soldier's that had escorted him paused by the door and the man looked at Levi, his eyes looking at him with that knowing glint.

"Good luck, Heichou." He said, with a small smile and a slight nod of his head he turned around, indicating that his partner ought to follow. They vanished back inside of the building leaving Levi in the carriage, his wrists cuffed in front of him. He looked around him and at the small room, the door to the carriage closing behind him. The carriage was as simple and unexceptional as he had expected. There was a tiny little bench stuck to the side, but besides that it was plan with nothing at all. He sat down, hands running through his hair before leaning back against the back of the carriage.

The silence did not last long, within moments the door was being opened once more and his sister was being forced in beside him by a soldier who looked stony eyed and very unimpressed. Levi immediately slid of the chair, he forced himself to sit on the ground, ignoring the dirt and filth as his sister sank onto the tiny bench, face flustered hair in a more wild state than normal. Unlike Levi she was not cuffed. The two stared at each other, eyes meeting before flickering away.

"Look, Levi, I am honestly sorr–"

"Meelo save it. What's done is done." To her dislike he spoke with that characteristic boredom that usually clung to everything he said. She scowled, but held her tongue.

Levi looked at her briefly, his eyes narrowing before shifting his gaze. Every part of him breathed that something bad was coming, instinct told him that the looks the men had given him were just hinting out what was going to happen when this carriage stopped. He had an inkling of an idea of what it was, but he was trying his best to ignore the idea that popped into his mind. Because it meant Meelo was going to be taken from him. And even though he was annoyed at her and even though he wanted to protect her Levi didn't want to lose her. He felt responsible for her and if she was taken away from him he couldn't protect her anymore.

It seemed like hours before the carriage slowed down, before stopping. The entire time was spent in silence, the tension between them evident. But as the carriage stopped Levi moved, wrapping an arm around his sister. She jumped at the unexpected touch, before wrapping her own arm around him and holding him tight.

"Whatever happens look after yourself, Meelo." He whispered. Her grip tightened on him, he could feel her shock.

She pulled away from him, her eyes questioning, confused by his words. "What do you mean, Levi? I'm staying with you."

His only response was a sad smile as the carriage doors opened. Three soldiers stood there, and carefully he detached himself from her arms. "I'm so sorry this happened, all of it." Meelo gripped his arm, her body prickling with alarm.

The soldier's grabbed her, and pulled her away Levi watched, rooted to the spot as her eyes widened, as her lips parted and as she cried out his name as the soldier's grabbed her and pulled her away. They paused, the struggling girl being held tight by three soldiers, Commander Pixis walked up to her, his tone cool, face expressionless. "You will be going to a foster family. You are too young to join the training corps. Your brother will stay here."

Meelo screamed at him, her eyes blazing, but as the soldier's begun moving again, it turned into wails and her head swivelled to the silent figure of Levi. It was then that Levi moved, it was only when he saw the tears in her eyes and the pain and the way her voice broke as she screamed out his name that he leapt forwards. He had to protect her, care for her, just as he always had.

His first steps out of the carriage were met with resistance; two other soldiers' tackled him, gripping him and holding him, preventing him from taking even two steps. The stupid cuffs on his hands were making him defenceless. "Meelo! Three years, Meelo. I promise." She disappeared into another carriage, but her cries still echoed, her screams still rang in his mind.

"I promise." He breathed, his heart hammering in his chest. Three years and he'd get her, find her and hold her. But for now she'd have to take care of herself. Commander Dot Pixis stepped forwards his eyes sympathetic, but Levi ignored him, eyes glued to the carriage that continued to disappear.

**Author's Note: **I hope you all enjoyed, hopefully you can leave a review and let me know what you think!


	9. The Fall Downhill

**Author's Note: **Hey everyoneeeeee! New chapter uppp. I hope you all like it ^^ Just to let you all know the next two weeks will be super busy for me as I have some really important exams. So I will probably only be able to update once a week. After that, however, I'll be back to two/three times a week. This chapter is a bit slow, but it is all important for everything that will be happening. I hope you all enjoy ^^

**Chapter Nine: The fall Downhill.**

Every instinct had begged him to run at her. Even as they had dragged her away from his arms he had wanted so badly to leap forwards and pull her back. But he had known that it was going to happen. He had known from the moment Commander Pixis had silenced his soldier's protests. He had known that entire morning as the soldier's had given him, knowing, sad looks. Yet, it had taken every bit of self-control he contained to not fight. And even then as she had cried his name he had given in to instinct, but that hadn't helped one little but. He'd been too late. As the carriage moved further away all Levi wanted to do was run after the fleeing horses that contained his screaming sister. He'd tried to pull himself away, his actions desperate and un-coordinated, small arms tugging pitifully at the two sets hands that gripped him tightly. If there had of been one of them he could have gotten away. He was fast enough and he had the skills to tear himself away from a single person. Levi had proved then when he had beaten up that solider.

But with two people and with his hands chained in front of him his escape would not happen. It would be highly unlikely for the small, but nimble fifteen year old to defeat one without the other stepping in. Besides as the carriage slipped away, the dust lifting behind it, his shoulders had already begun to sag in defeat. He was fast, but he was not faster than a carriage being pulled by two horses – horses that had been breed and created specifically to outrun a titan. So in the end he had watched arms tight, body straining as Meelo had disappeared. They had held him with an iron grip, holding him in place, every movement causing them to tighten their hold as though they feared the lanky child might escape them.

In his mind it was all still there, her teary eyes, her cries, her screams, the way she had called his name – like it had been _ripped _from her lips. It had torn into him; her eyes had danced with pain, hurt and confusion, three things he had never wanted her to suffer because of him. She was gone. His darling little sister was out of his life. Part of him hoped it wasn't forever, but he knew that if he saw her again it would be because she had thrown herself into the path of danger and had joined the training corps. The caring part of him hoped he'd never see her again, that would mean she was safe, that she had found a home and that she was never going to become a solider. That was the life he wanted her to have. Levi was doubtful, though, he'd see her again. He knew it.

Her cries became an echo as Commander Pixis forced Levi to pay him his full attention – his eyes remained glued to the road. It took three tries before the question he was being asked sunk in beneath the haze that had wrapped itself around his mind. His normal alert self had dissipated, and even after hearing the words his mind couldn't seem to make sense of what he was being asked. The words just floated in an abyss, and every time he tried to grab at them they flowed away and out of his reach. He couldn't make sense of anything that had just been said. Every time he thought about it his mind would slip straight to Meelo's horrified face and the pain would start all over again.

"Wh-What?" He mumbled.

His eyes lingered for a moment longer on the track that the carriage had taken, his sister was now nowhere in sight. They shifted upwards to Pixis, the question that he had been asked had already slipped his mind, again. Scrunching up his eyes he forced himself to concentrate, he banished all thoughts is his sister from his mind, thinking about her would get him nowhere now. He'd be stuck with that ache in his chest, and a millions memories he couldn't deal with. Levi needed to focus on reality and not what he wanted. He was stuck here; she was stuck wherever the hell they were taking her – Where was she going? Was she going to be safe? No, she wouldn't be safe without him – _Stop._ Clenching his hands tightly by his sides he demanded that his body stop shaking with rage. _Stop thinking about her. _Tightening his jaw he forcefully pushed her out of his head, he shoved her away from his mind. He'd have to forget about her for now; he'd have to forget about her until he was capable of dealing with it. Losing his cool now was a bad idea. After all he had accepted Commander Pixis' deal.

Being useless and unable to control his emotions was not going to get him through what was to come. He had to learn control, and normally his ability to control his emotions was exemplary, but of late that skill had diminished. Too much had happened in these past few days, too much bad, too much pain. Levi Heichou needed to rein in his out of control feelings; he did not want to look like a fool in front of all these people. Especially in front of the people who he would be training with.

Drawing in a deep breathe he closed his eyes briefly, as though willing his body to stand up straight and to focus. After a few seconds he drew himself up, his legs held himself higher, and his body seemed to flow with a new kind of energy. Opening his eyes he found Pixis staring at him intently, the man seemed to almost nod with approval as he watched Levi's transformation from a mess to something much more calmer.

"You need to learn how to listen." Pixis said, he turned around and started heading towards a small building that lay opposite what Levi assumed to be the training dining area.

With his hands still cuffed in front of him the two men that had taken hold of each of his arms, to his surprise, let go, and instead indicated that he follow the figure of the Commander. As he stepped off they moved with him, it appeared that they didn't believe he was going to try and run, and with Levi's dignity at stake he knew he would not be trying to make a runner anytime soon. If his hands weren't so unceremoniously bound he would be able to run with ease. God he hated handcuffs. Besides, he might be a thief and a criminal but he was a man of his word. Seeing as he had promised that he would give the commander the information he required he would. And with the threat that his sister could end up in a cell still hanging over his mind he had no option, but to follow.

Levi was still uncertain, however, if he would stay after presenting the commander with the information to capture his parents. It wouldn't be too difficult at all to simply slip out and head back to city, and spend however much time he needed to find his sister. The two of them could disappear and start somewhere else. Shrugging the thought from mind he instead tried to drag all the information he held about his parents. Levi did not feel guilty about handing such knowledge over to Pixis. His parents were capable people, and he preferred keeping Meelo safe over saving their butts any day. Hell he had no clue what exactly he was going to give the man. The last time he had seen his darling mother and father had been almost a month ago.

Six longer buildings stood in three neat rows just behind the small building he was heading to, and from the looks of it they were clearly the sleeping areas. The windows that littered the sides showed a few indistinct shapes that could have been easily mistaken for beds. Two more buildings stood directly behind those, from what Levi could tell they must have been the showering areas; one for males the other for females. Like everything these days it was all made of wood; hard, rough timber, the building were sturdy enough to survive the harshness of a winter storm, but tall and open enough to allow cool air in the heat of the summer. Levi grudgingly agreed that they were very cleverly designed.

The place, however, didn't look pleasant, and Levi's skin already crawled at the amount of dust he was sure to find in them, he could just picture the dirt in the corners, the grim beneath each floor bored and the mud and dust that would stick to everything. Wood was horrid when it came to mould and he was already expecting it to be everywhere. Curling his lip in distaste he tore his gaze away from the filthy buildings, his eyes roamed the area quickly, a large wired fence stood around the entire area, stretching further then he could see. Assuming that it ran around the entire perimeter he focused his attention on the group of boys and girls that had just begun to gather in a small clearing that separated the housing from the showering area.

They looked no older than he did, none of them were, however, shorter then Levi, he could see, even from this distance, that the person closest to his height had a good ten centimetres on him. That did not make him feel any less capable of holding his own. Most of them looked like farm boys and girls or snobby kids that were simply there because they had to be. It was honestly astonishing how most of them appeared to want to be anywhere else, but there. There were a few that seemed to be taking it seriously, but to her then that they look like a bunch of kids. With a disgusted _tch _he continued onwards. A few of the kids stopped and stared, their eyes inevitably travelling to the cuffs visible around his worsts. Levi eyes them back, his dark eyes burning into their judgemental gazes. And slowly each one of them looked away, face reddening in embarrassment that they had been caught staring.

The door was held open for him and he entered, nodding his head stiffly to the soldier, before. He was lead down a small corridor and to a room at the very end. In there was a small table and two chairs – one on each side of the table. Commander Pixis was already seated on the chair. Sighing heavily he made his way to the other chair, before sitting down stiffly. He placed his hands on the table, raising an eyebrow expectantly at the Commander. Pixis nodded his head, before turning towards his man and indicating that they unbind the boy's hands.

Grunting with satisfaction as the shackles feel away from his wrists he spent a moment rubbing them, they were sore, but luckily the pressure that he had placed on them in his early struggle had not broken the skin.

"Okay, so Levi, I am going to need you to answer a few questions that could help the garrison to locate your parents. The answers you supply us with most contain correct information, otherwise the deal is off." He finished by pulling out a sheet of paper from his pocket, followed by a pen.

"Where are their current whereabouts?" Commander Pixis asked, his eyes focused intently on Levi. Levi leaned backwards in his chair, seemingly uncaring of the grim that covered the wood. He stretched his arms and laced his fingers together before resting them on the back of his head.

"I have no clue where they are. My _parents _haven't been home for an entire month. Not a single word from them. I don't even know if they are still alive." His tone was polite, but there was an acid to the last words of his bitter statement.

This seemed to catch Pixis by surprise, he grunted, scrawling a few words down onto his paper. Biting his lip he continued to stare at the page before looking up and speaking. "Okay, then. Where do you live?"

Levi drew his lips into a tight line, but other than that gave no other indication that he was annoyed. His house was his home, he did not want these people going there and destroying it. After a few seconds of hesitation he finally spoke, tones clipped and very much angry, "north side of wall Maria, right beside the open markets. Basically next door to the bakery."

"What kind of work do your parents do? List me the things they have stolen, the kinds of people they have stolen from. And tell me the power they hold in the Underworld." This time when he spoke his eyes remained on his page, pen touching the corner of his mouth, expression thoughtful.

"As you very well know they collect items for a select clientele. They have gathered a large number of items, money, jewels, collectables like old gear, 3d maneuver gear, food. Everything, in all honesty. They are very good at their job," Levi smirked. He'd chosen his words carefully, unwilling to actually say the word _thief _in front of Pixis. "Their power within the Underworld is astounding. They are basically the top man's hand, if he wants something he'll go directly to them. They tell a large number of other _employees _what to do –directing them as to where they can hunt and where they cannot. Sometimes they orchestrate interrogations and sometimes they even go and give 'warnings'."

Levi's eyes strayed away from the commander who was writing some of this information down, he looked out the door, which they had not closed, but that was a boring affair, there was nothing to see.

"Good," The commander mumbled, Levi looked at him, but found that the man was intent on the page in front of him.

"It seems odd, Pixis, that you would be here at a trainee camp doing a job that you could have any other solider do." It was odd; Levi had found it just so since the beginning. Pixis looked upwards; a small smile gracing the older man's lips. He didn't even appear to be annoyed that Levi hadn't used his correct title.

"As I said before. I find you and your sister to be very interesting. I can't imagine how skilled the both of you must be to be so high up in the Underworld and so young. They are skills we need here. Besides when it comes to people as important as yourself I like to show personal interest. You never know what can happen." His smile was light and very friendly as though he truly meant everything he said. Levi nodded his head, his respect for the man before him growing every minute. It was difficult to not respect him; although Levi was slightly doubtful about the way the man seemed to ignore disrespect. "And there is the small fact that people always seem to screw up this kind of information." He waved the piece of paper, his eyes glaring teasingly at the two other soldiers in the room.

"Well I think that is all I really need from you, Levi. This should be enough to do what we have to do. If I have any more questions I'll come and ask you." Commander Pixis stood, folding the piece of paper and tucking it back into his paper. Levi did the same standing up as well. This time, however, never of the soldier's made a move to handcuff him, and Levi raised an eyebrow in surprise. Pixis seeing the movement smiled once more. "You're not going back in cuffs because you are staying here with the others, no reason to put you back when you only need to walk a few meters. Well Levi, it was a pleasure meeting you. Please do try and stay out of trouble." He offered Levi his hand to shake and Levi clasped it in his own.

"She is safe? Isn't she? Promise me she won't get hurt." Levi responded, hand tightening around Pixis'. Pixis nodded his head, and Levi found himself trusting the man. There was something in those old eyes that made Levi know he could trust him. So he nodded his own head, pleased. Then they were moving out of the room. When they reached the door the Commander paused once more, turning to face Levi for a final time.

"Good luck, Levi. Training starts tomorrow."

**Author's Note: **Wellll looks like the story is really beginningggg. I have a few points I need to make about the next few chapters as they will be a bit time jumpy and a bit here and there trying to get both Meelo's and Levi's POV's, but I'll let you know about it all in the note's after I post each chapter. Please don't forget to leave a review and let me know what you think!


	10. Burning Heart

**Author's Note:** Thank you to everyone who reviewed, much appreciated! Again I am super duper sorry for such a long wait between chapter, my exams finish tomorrow, thankfully, so after that I'll be back to normal. This chapter will be the last time we see anything of Meelo for quite some time, so I hope you all enjoy. ^^

**Chapter Ten: Burning Heart.**

They'd shoved her into a home. They said that the people would be nice. They said that she would have fun, that she would have parents that would talk to her every day. People that would not steal things and run off. They said they would be good to her, that she would have three meals a day, clothes that weren't from the black market and she would go to school; learn how to make friends. And every time they opened their mouths she wouldn't listen. She would shut her eyes tightly together; press her fingers into her ears and sing. She would sing the song that her parents had sung to her at night when she was sick. She would begin to speak the fairy tales and stories there her brother use to always tell her. She would scream them out loud drowning out each and every word that slipped passed the soldier's lips.

At one stage they attempted to grab her arms and hold them down. She couldn't blame them, she was being completely immature. But she couldn't help it. The glistening tears on her cheeks and the ache in her chest felt like enough to validate every choice she made. She refused to listen, because listening meant accepting the fact that she had just been forcefully taken away from her brother – _her family. _Levi was all she had left of a ruined family and now he was gone and now she was in a stupid cart being dragged off to god knows where, where she was expected to be happy. A doubtful part of her was certain she would never be happy again, even when all realistic views said it would just take time. But then, even thinking those words made her stomach twist and her heart flutter painfully in her chest. Even thinking that it would get better was enough to make her feel like she was betraying her brother.

She already missed him.

The soldier's around her seemed to give up, and her eyes flickered open; the echoing silence was only being shattered by her tormented voice. Part of her hoped that when she opened her eyes she would be all alone, she felt vulnerable and weak with the continuous sobs that wracked her body. Tear stained cheeks flushed red, eyes swollen and sticky, searching the cart. Every face was silent, all lips drawn tight and slowly she stopped her singing, and slowly her finger's slipped down from her ears. She pushed herself backwards, forcing her body against the back of the cart, as far away as humanly possible from the soldier's that stared at her with a mixture of pity and sympathy. She hated them for looking at her like that. She hated them for trying to comfort her. She needed no one's sympathy or aid. The only person that she had ever let help her was gone, in some stupid training camp, being trained to die. She just wanted to be with him, by his side.

Sometimes she knew that Levi needed her, it was only for little things, but those little things all added up. And even though some people viewed those little things (like grabbing his hand when he was angry, or reading him a story when he was sick, helping him when he thought he didn't need any help. Or something as simple as those rare smiles that he would give her, something he never did for anyone else) as nothing much, but in this family they meant something. In this family they spoke three words that were never heard. They said _I love you _when nothing else did.

Meelo couldn't even remember the last time she had said those words to Levi, Levi had only ever said them once, but she didn't need him to repeat it every night as he told her to go to bed, she didn't need him to say it when they were madly running for their lives. It was the things they did for each other that let her know and reminded her that her brother loved her. The little things more so than the big things.

He would never admit it, but she knew that with her there by his side he was comfortable. It was the same way for her, he was her protection, he was the one that had stood above her every day and looked out for her. She loved her parents, but she was beginning to understand that the love she felt for them was more of something she _had _to feel. She so desperately _needed _that comfort that came with Levi. Just the feeling of it was enough to erase any sadness or nervous from her stomach. But now without it her body was a twisting, churning bowl of turmoil and pain.

Wrapping her arms tightly around her legs she rested her face on her knees, turning away so that she couldn't look at any of the soldiers she buried her head against the wood, trying her absolute best to not cry. As the carriage drew itself to a stop she didn't move. The doors opened, but she remained were she was, body tensing up.

"Meelo, you need to move, your foster family is waiting for you." It was the gruff voice of one of the soldier's. His voice stuck to her, though, he had been the one that had tried to soothe her after she had been unceremoniously chucked into the carriage.

She flinched at his words, drawing herself further away and pushing herself as far as she could into the wood, wishing it would simply swallow her up. How dare he say the word _family _the people out there waiting for her were going to be nothing more than two adults demanded to take charge of her until she was old enough to make her own choices (Huh, she _was _joining the military next year, no one was going to stop her). They were people who would pretend to be her parents, and she would rather spend the rest of her life with her useless ones then move one inch. She'd rather live everyday unsure as to whether or not her parents would be home that night then stay with idiots who would demand things of her that she would be unable to do. Because at least her parents were hers. At least Levi was there, he always made it better no matter what.

She bit her lip, her breathing ragged as she forced back the tears that threatened to overspill. It hit her all at once and she was gasping for air, fighting the pain in her chest once more.

"Go away. I'm not getting out." She hissed.

She never looked up; her head remained where it was, bowed. _Pull yourself together, Meelo. _She wouldn't cry, not again. This wasn't her; just the thought of Levi's disappointed face was enough to make her bubble with anger. She could picture him, a hand on hip, the other hanging by his side, lips drawn together tightly, eyebrows pulled down as he gently let out a disgusted _tch _before snidely saying how pathetic she was acting. It was a memory that had happened before when she was seven and had broken her arm. Seeing him like that was enough to make her gather her courage and to push her misery aside. After all she was a Heichou, and she was not a little girl that cried about everything. She had to be stronger than this, for herself and for Levi.

"Alright. Meelo, if you don't move now me and another one of the boy's will drag you out. How do you think that is going to look? Hmmm? Already keen to make a fool of yourself, girl? I'm giving you five seconds to move your ass otherwise I'm dragging you out." Even though his tone had lost a lot of its warmth there was still something gentle about it, as though he really didn't want to have to drag her out.

"Come on, girl. Please." It was those last words that finally stirred enough energy within her to make her move. Grunting she slowly unfolded herself before shifting forwards. She refused to look at anyone, instead keeping her eyes directly in front of herself.

When the man offered her a hand she pointedly ignored it, shuffling to the end of the carriage before sliding to the ground. He exited after her, placing a hand on her shoulder to direct her, but she tore her arm away, throwing him a cold glare. The soldier seemed taken aback by her abrupt change of attitude, and he drew his hand back as though she had stung him. She shrugged off the looks the other soldier's threw her, but followed when they started moving off. They had stopped in front of a house in the city of Trost. Her heart began to ache all over again; she was so very far away from home.

The soldier's stopped and she paused behind them, unwilling to look upwards at the people she had been dumped with.

"Morning Mr and Mrs Fitz. This here is Meelo Heichou; she is the young girl you will be looking after until we can find her a more permanent home. I believe Commander Pixis explained the situation?" It was that same gruff voice. Meelo did her best to not look up, flip them off and scream; instead she remained silent, letting her anger pool in her stomach. Dragging all her anger into her facial expression, waiting for the perfect moment to throw them her most dangerous look she could put together.

"Yes, we have been informed. It saddened me to hear – " A woman spoke this time, but other than that Meelo wasn't listening anymore.

"I don't need your pity. I don't need your sympathy. So stop talking." She snapped eyes blazing. She stepped forwards, pointing an accusatory finger at the woman before her, but before she could get two paces one of the soldier's grabbed her roughly by the shoulder drawing her back.

"That is enough, you brat. Stop it. Don't be so rude." He growled, it was a different solider, this one had been the one to yell at her as she had screamed, demanding that she shut her trap or he would do it for her. Meelo did not like him. But before he could say anything else the gruff soldier was there, pulling him away, before turning to face Meelo expression stern and very much angry. He shifted his position so that he could look her directly in the eyes and she bit back a snarky few words. He was treating her like a child.

"Listen here, Meelo. It is simple you are staying here. For the first month there will be daily checks to make sure you are still here. If I here you have been causing any trouble we will throw you in a cell. And it will not be one that you like. So you will turn around and apologise to Mrs Fitz right now or so help me god-"

"Alright fine. Just stop your bloody complaining, you are worse than Levi." She growled, giving him a final cold glare before spinning around and walking over towards the lady she had so carelessly offended.

"I am so _very _sorry for any offensive I may have caused." She resisted the urge to roll her eyes, the words dripping from her lips in a drawl that was almost as good as something Levi could pull off. The lady – Mrs Fitz, seemed incapable of saying anything in response, her hand still clamped firmly over her lips. Mr Fitz seemed much a bit more intelligent – a sparing assumption she had gathered from the way he stepped forwards to give her an angered look (it appeared all anyone could do was look at her with anger or annoyance).

"This will not happen again." He spoke with authority that she easily dismissed; there was nothing there, but a miserable attempt at trying to assert control that was clearly nowhere to be seen.

"Excuse Meelo on her shameful behaviour, she has just been through a very hard experience. It will take her time to accustom to her new situation." Once more she bit her tongue, bowing her head as the gruff soldier threw her a warning look.

The lady seemed to have gathered her wits, "oh, I know! I've heard, what a poor child! Yes, of course! Come now, Meelo I will show you to your room!"

Meelo stared, horrified, this woman was crazy, every sentence ended with a high-pitched exclamation. It was like she was trying to scream at you. Her jaw slipped open a few inches and she tried her best to not laugh at the woman in front of her. Mrs Fitz smiled widely as though she no longer could remember that Meelo had deeply offended her. The gruff solider shoved her gently in the shoulder and she threw him one last glare, but this time there was almost something pleading on her gaze.

He didn't even blink, and she was suddenly all alone again, with an emptiness that threatened to swallow her she turned and followed the lady into the house.

**Author's Note: **So that's it for Meelo for a while! Please drop by and leave a review if you can! ^^


	11. Darker Than Black

**Author's Note: **Again, I am so sorry for the wait. I didn't realize that wrapping up everything with school would take so much time. But here is the new chapter! I hope you all enjoy ^^

**Chapter Eleven: Darker Than Black**

They were all lined up in three ranks. Levi stood at the back, his legs apart, in a stance that they all had adopted moments after they had been told to form up. The clothes he wore were uncomfortable and he was sure someone else had been in them before they had been dumped in front of him. It was repulsive, and he had loudly objected to wearing them, but the young officer that had given them to him simply sneered and walked away, throwing a quick warning over his shoulder "you know what will happen if the commander finds out you aren't following orders." And although he had been angry enough to flip the guy off he had held his tongue when it came to angry retorts, sliding the clothes over his skin with lips curled in disgust. Now it was six in the morning and he was already up, out of bed and standing in the dirt just as the sun was beginning to rise.

Most of the new recruits seemed very displeased with this arrangement. Most of them had begun rising before the sun had even woken up, and by the time they were all assembled it had already begun to touch the horizon. Levi, being accustomed to having to move fast and quickly when awoken with a loud racket had been the first out. He'd slept in his clothes as he had nothing else to wear. He had been given nothing else and he had not had the opportunity to ask for more than what he had arrived with. So it had been a simple task to slip his boots on and jog onto the dirt patch in between the showering area and where he was.

"All of you hurry the fuck up! How long does it take to get your skinny asses out of bed?" Trainee squad commander Hilday Samson screamed.

He liked to yell, it was an impression Levi had gleamed after only seeing him for a good five seconds. But then the first words that had come from his mouth had been screamed at them all. There was something uncharacteristically odd about the way his words always seemed to end in a high pitch as though he was trying to make your ear drums bleed. He was a thick set man with a beard that covered three quarters of his face. He had a thin covering of hair on his skull, thick set eyes that were cold and riddled with anger.

The man was tall, taller than average. He was in his late fifties and it showed by the thickening waist line. Even so, Levi could already tell that this man was no softy. Even though he was rounder then most military men there was something about the way he held himself that allowed Levi to assume that this was not a man to be messed with. Just because he was a bit bigger did not mean he wasn't incapable of outrunning every teenager in this class., except for Levi, that was.

He'd had little time to get his bearings, but from his late night tour he'd been able to gleam his basic surroundings. Levi hadn't met any of the other trainee's, but he had seen them all, taking notes about each and every one of them with every glance.

It seemed that almost ten minutes had passed by the time the rest of the trainees had formed up. Levi resisted the urge to scowl, first day and they were already a useless bunch of children. He hated it when others made him look bad. Samson was about as pleased at the state if the new trainee squad as Levi was; it was obvious by the way his face reddened with rage. Levi raised an eyebrow, counting the seconds silently in his head waiting for the man to explode.

"Alright you pieces of shit! It took you lot over ten minutes to get out of bed and move to a patch of dirt! That is disgusting. You maggots need to move faster. Tomorrow if this is not done in less than three minutes you will all be running laps around this place until you drop dead or of exhaustion, I don't give a fuck. Is that understood?!" He had stopped, before spinning around and yelling the last words into a trainees face. The kid seemed surprised, because he stepped backwards, a startled yelp escaping his lips.

"I said: Is that understood?" Everywhere around him choruses of 'sir' rang loud. Levi watched, eyebrow still raised. This was not going to be very enjoyable. He he'd no doubt that he would ace this course, but from the looks of it he was going to be stuck with idiots. That was something he didn't know if he could handle.

…

The aptitude test was supposed to be the thing that actually decided whether or not you had the capabilities to be a soldier. But it wasn't until the afternoon of the third day that they were given the equipment they required to actually do the test. It was a simple test, all you had to do was manipulate your body so that when you were hanging from the equipment in the air you didn't fall down or sway around madly. The demonstration they had received made it look very simple, and after putting on his harness Levi was certain this was going to be an easy task.

The harness, however, had been no simple thing to put on, and oddly enough he had struggled with the other trainees trying to figure out which way the straps went. Although he understood why they needed harnesses from their chest all the way down to their feet he wished that they weren't so difficult to put together. There were bits and pieces everywhere, some of the things look like they did nothing else but make the thing seem impossible to put on. After almost twenty minutes of fiddling he finally figured it out, stepping outside and towards the area they had been told to wait at. Only two other trainees were done, a guy and a girl, and they stood together quietly talking.

As he approached they looked up.

"Oi, you, what's your name, shorty?" The guy stepped closer, raising a finger to point at Levi before asking the question. Making sure to throw the insult in at the end. Levi didn't even blink, instead he walked right past and halted by the equipment, eyes focusing on the task ahead, not on the shitty brat behind him.

"I'm talking to you. No one ignores me." _One of those guys. _Levi sighed before turning around. Folding his arms over his chest he raised an eyebrow, making sure to indicate that this whole thing was very much boring him. The girl had followed as the guy made his way towards Levi, Levi looked at him, he was tall, he looked like one of those guys girls fawned over with the ridiculous hairstyles and bright blue eyes. He was well-muscled, he must work out, and the way he carried himself implied that he viewed himself to be much more important than everyone else around him. Condescending, snooty, bastard.

"What's your name?" He sneered. Levi said nothing.

This appeared to irritate the guy very much, because he stepped closer. Bending down low he pressed his face forwards, so that it was close to Levi's. "Cat got your tongue?" He snapped, with one hand he reached forwards, as though he was planning on grabbing Levi's shoulder. But before he can even touch Levi, Levi moves, bringing his left fist upwards and straight into the guys chin. The guy let out a startled yelp of pain before stumbling backwards. His feet catch and he fell to the ground, landing hard on his ass with a huff of air. He seems startled by the realisation that he was on his ass on the floor. Levi moves forward, gripping the guys colour. Leaning on low he pulls the guy forwards so that their faces are inches away.

"Don't you ever think about touching me again. Don't talk to me like that if you have any wish of making it through training. Filthy brat." It was the way he spoke the words that seemed to get to the guy the most. They weren't angry or filled with venom, they were cold, but spoken so calmly that it was any wonder Levi wasn't bored.

Sighing he shoved the guy away. The girl gave Levi one look before going to the guy, asking him if he was alright. The guy, having had his pride and dignity wounded snapped at her, before getting to his feet. He glared at Levi, but made no move to say or do a thing. Levi hid a smile, before looking away and at the approaching instructor.

By now the rest of the class had finally managed to get their gear on. It took little to no time at all for the first five of them to be hooked up. After that it took almost three hours to get them all through. Levi was one of the last to go and as they hooked him up he watched the way the clips were connected. After that he understood perfectly why the harness was so complicated. When they began using the 3D maneuver gear it would require this much to allow them to move at all, without breaking bones or permanently injuring themselves. By the time he was hooked up and being lifted up he had gathered enough information to begin to understand how he could do this. As his feet lifted off of the ground he steadied himself, allowing his weight to hang around his hips where the harness could hold it properly. Then from their he was able to relax, his movements blending in perfectly with the way the equipment had been designed.

Smirking ever so slightly he looked around himself. This was by far easy then he had expected. He was almost excited at the prospect of using the 3 dimensional maneuver gear, which was something that surprised him. The trainee commander walked by, nodding his head at Levi as though he approved before moving on. After that he was put down and told to wait with everyone else as another person stepped forwards. It was intriguing to watch other's step forward and give it a go. It was surprising and shocking at the same time at the amount of people who seemed almost incapable of doing it correctly. Apparently they'd be given until the next day to magically improve otherwise they were taken to fields to work their time away. It was as though once you signed up you couldn't return home until you had done a certain amount of time.

In Levi's opinion this was much better than doing whatever the hell those people were sent off to do if he flunked.

….

Almost three weeks had passed and he hadn't made a single friend. He'd made more enemies then people he had spoken to. Three weeks in and everyone had side stepped away from him, he was clearly the person to beat. Already at the top of almost every class the more popular people were starting to pick on him in any way they could. Sometimes he ignored them other times he would return the favours, just a little bit more brutally. At the moment he was sitting alone in the back corner of the dining area. Everyone was talking loudly and the room was filled with heat, sweating bodies and laughter. The food in front of him had been barely touched.

Three weeks in and he really wanted to get out. The food was dissatisfying the living conditions were horrendous. Everywhere was filthy and it was taking a lot of his self-control to not ask for equipment to clean it. Levi was already being seen as a big enough freak, adding the little need to have everything perfectly cleaned would just boost his reputation. Like he needed more people to hate him. Oddly enough he hadn't thought about Meelo much at all, he was thankful for it though. It was better that way not to think about her. He'd just have to believe that she was safe and well. Commander Pixis had not visited him again and so he was sure the information he had supplied had been enough to get his parents arrested. He didn't even feel in the slightest guilty about that.

"Hey! I'm Zoe, well most people call me Hanji, though!" The bright, excited voice was recognisable. Levi might not be friends with any of them but he had seen enough of them to know who was who.

Hanji was one of those a little more like him in the way she seemed to be an outcast. She had friends, but most of them appeared to want to slide away and hang with other people, she was too loud, excitable and passionate. She had a burning desire to kill the titans, and she could ramble on about them for a very long time. It seemed her passion to destroy them was fuelled by rage and anger, something Levi could connect with. Regardless he didn't talk to any of them, so he pointedly ignored her.

"Awh, come on, Levi, talk to me. I swear I've only heard your voice like twice in three weeks. I'm honestly intrigued to know if you can form an actual sentence." She laughed, before poking Levi playfully in the arm. Levi looked at her, face emotionless.

"Do that again and you won't have a finger." The threat seemed to go over Hanji's head; instead she let out a loud 'whoop' of joy that was met with all eyes turning in his direction. Levi got up and started moving away, the sudden attention making his skin prickled with annoyance. But Hanji had her claws sunk into him, and she was not ready to let go of him just yet. She followed him as he made his way outside and headed towards his bed.

"Go away, Hanji."

"Wow, this is pretty incredible you are talking." She giggled, reaching forwards to poke him once more, but Levi was faster, he grabbed her wrist, spinning around so that they faced one another. "I said leave me alone." His voice was deadly cold, he let go of her arm before turning around and walking to his dorm.

He missed Meelo's presence. She was perhaps the only person in the world that didn't annoy him. But he was stuck with this mob of idiots.

Hanji stood there for a few more moments, her face morphing into the expression of an injured puppy. Levi didn't look back, and as the door closed behind him she spun around and walked away.

**Author's Note: **Soooo I have introduced Hanji! Yay! Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong, but the Manga and neither does google say that they never trained togetherrrr, so I though I'd just make it something like that so I don't over do it with introducing OCC's. Also their trainee commander is Samson because Shadis doesn't become a trainee commander until he loses his position as the scouting legions commander, so yeahhhh. Again I hope you all enjoyedddd 3


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